I choose my own fate
by HuskyWalker
Summary: Back in his own time Harry Potter has to deal with his sickness and at the same time hide from both the light and the dark side. Nothing has changed from his visit in the past and Harry is on his own. Will he be able to see Tom Riddle in Lord Voldemort?
1. Chapter 1

**BEFORE YOU READ: This is the sequel to The beginning of the beginning. If you have not read that I suggest you do that or else some of the things might be a little hard to understand. **

**Warning: Light bashing, confused Weasleys (I think) Dumbledore bashing. Character death (I am not telling who) Pain, sickness, and perhaps also a little torture. **

**Disclaimer: Nothing has changed from the last story to this sequel. I do still not own the rights to Harry Potter. **

**I got a beta. Her name is ****angelhitomie. ****All mistakes there might be is solely mine.**

**On with the story. **

Pain.

That was all he was aware of. It was ripping through his body and made his blood burn and lungs feel like they could not fill with enough air. He wanted it to end; carved for it to stop so he could get the peace he wanted.

Perhaps it was because he was in Hell. He was not sure if the Wizarding world believed in God and the devil. The Dursleys had often brought him with them to the church before he started at Hogwarts. Perhaps they had believed that God would get rid of his freakiness for them, when they seemed unable to do so.

Until now it had not helped.

Suddenly the pain vanished and Harry was once again able to breathe normal. He did not hesitate to fill his lungs with several mouthfuls of fresh air.

As he lay panting for air Harry slowly became aware of his surroundings. Birds were singing somewhere above him and further away he could hear children's voices. Harry smiled at the peacefulness until he realised that something was wrong.

It was not supposed to be this peaceful. He had just been fighting against one of the biggest dark lords in history. Last time he checked he had been in Hogsmeade which had been turned into a battlefield when Grindelwald and his followers decided to pay a visit.

Harry had headed into the fight, not knowing that Tom and other Hogwarts students would be there. When he had found out about it, he had tried to get as many as possible, including Tom, back to the safety behind Hogwarts' wards.

Realising that he did not yet know whether or not Tom had arrived to Hogwarts, Harry opened his eyes and sat up, only to fall back again when pain shot through his body.

Waiting for the pain to lessen so he would be able to move Harry looked up at the blue sky over him. Around him stood trees and he could hear cars driving past far away. Far more cars than he was supposed to hear when he was fifty years in the past. Actually, there was not supposed to be any cars nearby since he was supposed to be in a Wizarding town. Muggle technology and magic never worked well together.

Harry felt drained from energy. Not only because of the fit, he had grown used to it, but also because of the amount of magic he had used on a wandless killing curse.

He turned onto his side and vomited over the ground. When he was only dry-heaving Harry rolled onto his back again, making sure he did not lay on the vomit. He felt disgusting enough as it was.

Feeling slightly better Harry opened his eyes, sat up and ran a hand through his hair. He had killed more than a handful of people but could not find it in him to regret his doings. Grindelwald had been pestering his life ever since the man learned of his existence.

Besides, it had been a situation where either of them had to go down. And Harry was not willing to leave Tom not as long as the boy wanted him by his side.

Looking around Harry frowned. He was no longer in Hogsmeade that much was for sure. Instead he was in a park which seemed strangely familiar to him. He was sure he had been there before though he was not sure when it had been.

Harry's Avada Kedavra green eyes widened when he remembered he had been hit by the killing curse, again. He was supposed to be dead, but there he was, still breathing though it was a little painful at the moment.

"Guess I am just not able to be normal, am I?" Harry mumbled to himself, seeing that there was no one around to hear him. Rubbing his eyes Harry sighed. "Well, I better get up, I have to go and make sure that Tom is alright."

It took him two attempts before Harry got on his feet. Swaying back and forth Harry tried to keep staying on his feet. He banished the cat ears from the top of his head. He did not need the attention people would give him should they see him with cat ears. Harry had gotten enough attention for his whole life as it already was.

Breathing deeply Harry looked around. The air was warmer than it should be this early in the summer. The sun was looking down on him from the middle of the sky. It was only midday and Harry knew it had been much later when Hogsmeade was attacked. "Just how long have I been knocked out?" Harry rubbed the back of his head, sighing. "I guess there is only one way for me to find out."

Harry reached down for his wand, only to have his hand close around empty air. His eyes widened when he remembered what had happened to his wand. "That fucking bastard, he broke my wand, if he was not already dead, I would gladly kill him again."

Harry's voice was laced with badly hidden anger. It hurt to lose his wand. It had been a solid part of his life ever since the day he had first entered the Wizarding world.

Running a hand through his hair, which reached down to the lower part of his back, Harry sighed. It seemed he had been doing that a lot lately. "I better get going if I shall find Tom. I bet he is worried for me."

Harry smiled at the thought of the possessive Slytherin who had been a part of his life for nearly five years. Had someone once told him that he would fall in love with Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort, he would have laughed at them and afterwards he would have sent them to St. Mungo's to get their brains checked.

Harry walked away from the spot he had awoken on. It would do him no good to stay there. He had no way of knowing who would find him if he stayed where he was. Besides, he needed to find someone who could tell him where he was.

He moved in the direction where the children's voices and laughter sounded from. Children usually meant adults who would be able to answer his questions. It did not take long before he came to a muggle playground. Harry stood frozen at the spot, unsure of what he should do.

How he had moved from Hogsmeade to a muggle park Harry had no idea about. One thing he knew, the wizard robes he wore would not help him with hiding in the crowd. He already felt like one of those purebloods who had no idea about how to dress when they were among muggles.

A toddler, no more than two years old, waddled over to him. Harry greeted the child with a smile but did not do anything else. He had no experience with small children other than knowing that they had really good lungs and they were not afraid of using them.

It did not take long before a young girl with pigtails joined them. She took the boy's hand and glared at him. Harry smiled to her and looked around in hope of seeing her parents or guardians somewhere.

There were roughly twenty children at the playground. The smallest were mere toddlers while the oldest were around seventeen years old. Harry realised that the children were orphans since they were dressed in the same grey uniform.

"Just what do you think you are doing to those children?" Harry stepped away from the boy and the girl, when a woman, who reminded him of Molly Weasley, only with brown hair, came towards him. He knew the others' attention was on him now and felt himself blush.

"Sorry, I just wanted to know what the date was." Why he asked that question Harry did not know. Perhaps it was because of the feeling that if he did not say something the woman would knock him to the ground and then call for the police. The way she was build made him not doubt that she would be able to do just that.

The woman stopped when she was right behind the children and placed a hand on each of their shoulder. "It is July 31." Harry blinked in surprise. It was his birthday. "Ehm, what year, if you do not mind I ask?" The woman looked at him as if he was mad. "It is 1996"

Harry knew he was gaping. "Are you sure?" The woman raised an eyebrow very similar to how professor Snape would do and Harry wondered if the two of them were related. At least he would now have a chance of asking the potion master the question. "You know what? Never mind. Some of my friends are waiting for me and I do not want to be late. Thank you for the help."

He hurried away before the woman could ask him any question, mostly about why he was dressed in what looked like a dress to her.

It did not take long before he had gotten a good distance between himself and the group and was sure that no one would be able to see him.

His legs gave out under him and Harry hit the ground. He did not try to rise from the ground but instead rolled over onto his back and stared up at the blue sky.

He was back.

He was back in his own time.

Harry was not sure what to think. On one hand he was happy. He had never thought he would be able to return to his own time and had accepted the fact that he would forever stay in the past.

On the other hand he was guilty about having left Tom. Did his lover believe that he had died that day with Grindelwald? Harry wondered what Dumbledore had told the Aurors. Honestly, he doubted that the professor would have told them the truth but would have come up with some lie which would give him all the honour.

Resting a hand on his forehead Harry blinked. He had killed Grindelwald, one of the greatest dark lords ever. Did that mean…? Harry shook his head, deciding to think about it another day. Right now he had other things to think about. He needed to find Tom and tell the boy that he was alive.

Harry laughed. "Well, I can not really call him a boy any longer, can I? I mean it has been over fiftty years. I wonder if he will be able to recognise me."

He jumped up and started running. Now he knew where he was. It was the same park where he had awoken when Dumbledore had sent him back in time by an accident. Harry wondered what the old goat would say when he realised that Harry was not as dead as he was supposed to be.

"I wonder how Hermione and Ron will react. No matter what Dumbledore has told them they will know the truth. We have been friends too long for them to believe in any of the lies about me."

Though he felt a little doubt in the back of his mind Harry decided to push it away from him. He could trust his friends. After all what they had been through, something really had to be wrong if they were not able to trust each others any longer.

Humming Harry continued out of the park and into London. He was well aware that several people were looking at him with wide eyes and some walked a big circle around him, making sure to avoid him as much as possible. Harry frowned until he looked down at himself and realised what it all was about.

He was still dressed in the robes he had been wearing when Hogsmeade had been attacked. Even though his robes were in dark green the blood and dirt could not be hidden. A glance in a window where he could see his image told Harry is hair looked messier than usual.

Before he ventured to Diagonal Alley he needed to do something about himself. If he stepped into the Leaky Cauldron looking like this the Aurors would be on him faster than he could say firebolt.

The thought of his broom made Harry sigh. He wondered what had happened to his belongings when he had left the past. He hoped Tom had taken care of them. His trunk still held the only things he had about his parents and the broom had been from Sirius.

What had happened to Tom when he disappeared? Harry knew that there had been no one else to take his lover in. The only other opportunity was that he had gone back to the orphanage. Harry hoped that was not the case. Instead some of Tom's followers should take the boy in. He should stay in the Wizarding world instead of returning to that awful place.

He stopped walking when he found a news-stand. Making sure the owner was not looking Harry took one of the news papers and hurried on. He swore he would go back and pay another day but right now he had no money on him, neither muggle nor Wizarding.

Getting a safe distance between himself and the news-stand Harry allowed himself to stop up and take a look at the newspaper.

_Terrorists attack London._

_Several places have been attacked by terrorists through the whole summer. Police stand without a clue to who the guilty are. _

Harry looked down at the pictures to the article and for a short moment he was sure his heart had stopped beating. The pictures showed the crime scenes from the attacks but that was not what caught Harry's attention.

Above each of the crime scenes, where the sky was on the picture, he saw the dark mark. It was the mark Voldemort used to leave to tell people who was behind the attack. Harry knew that no muggle would pay any attention to it but anyone from the Wizarding world would know what it meant.

Feeling his knees become weak Harry was forced to sit down on a bench so he would not fell.

Nothing seemed to have changed.

His hands started shaking.

Voldemort was there.

He could hear someone talk to him but could not hear what they were saying.

Tom was gone.

The person was speaking louder, but Harry could still not hear what was being said.

His Tom was not there.

It had been futile.

Someone grabbed his arm and Harry snapped out of his panic attack. He pushed the person away from him, fearing that they would attack him and reached down for his wand before he remembered that he no longer had one. Grindelwald had broken it.

"Are you okay, mister?"

Harry blinked, confused, and looked up at a man about his own age who was watching. The lad was kind of good looking though Harry was not interested. He had just found out that Tom was gone.

When he realised that the muggle was still waiting for an answer Harry blushed. "Yeah, sorry. I kind of just zoned out for a short moment and forgot where I was."

He did not move when the man sat down next to him on the bench. "Did you know any of them?"

"Huh?" Harry tilted his head to the side, not really understanding what the man was talking about. "You were looking at the pictures about the terrorist attacks. Did you know any of the victims?"

"…My lover."

It was not a lie. Tom was a victim. Harry refused to believe that his lover was evil. The Tom he knew would be able to do such a thing but he would not do it. That much Harry knew.

"What about you tell me about it?" Harry frowned. "I do not even know you."

"That is easy enough. My name is Casper, I am a journalist. Please tell me, is it only now that you find out that your lover is dead? How do you feel? How come that no one has told you before now? Did you have a lovers' spat and did not manage to clear up before he died?"

Harry stood and hissed at the man. "How dare you. I hate your kind. You make a living out of others sufferings." He thought about the Wizarding world and how they had made everyone turn against him time after time. "Say one more word and I will tell you just what I feel. And do not think that you will like what I have to tell you."

Ignoring the people staring at him Harry stamped away. He wanted to get away before he did something stupid. In this time the ministry would be able to find him if he did magic in front of muggles. He was not sure if that would be the case with wandless magic but he doubted it. It had not happened whit Tom and the Wizarding world was so slow in changing that it would take years before anything changed.

He found a small blind alley where he cleaned his robes with a spell. Harry had to use it several times before he was satisfied with the result. When he finally felt as clean as he could for the time being Harry left the blind alley. He would take a bath later so he could feel really clean. Magic did wonders but it was nowhere as good as the real thing.

Stepping into the Leaky Cauldron Harry kept his head down and his scar hidden behind his fringe. He had no idea about what Dumbledore had told people and until then he would do as little as possible to be seen. Maybe he would even stay hidden afterwards, that time would only show.

Tom stood behind the counter and Harry could not help but smile. It was funny to think that he had know the man both as a grownup but also as a child, even funnier was that he had seen Tom as a man before he saw him as a child.

Not wanting anyone to take note of him Harry hurried through. He was not surprised that there only were a few guests. After all people had just found out that Tom had returned, thought Harry and Dumbledore had been saying so for a whole year beforehand. Harry wondered what people would do now to keep themselves safe now where they knew the truth.

He for one knew that he would not try and help them unless it was happening right in front of him. The Wizarding world had done nothing to deserve his help and Harry felt no need to fight against Tom. If it was possible he would just live in peace with Tom.

Harry refused to think of Tom as Voldemort. For him it was two entirely different persons. One had taken his family away from him while the other had given him the chance of having a new one. So Tom and Voldemort would never be the same. Tom was his lover while Voldemort was a heartless killer who enjoyed torturing other people.

His steps halted when Harry arrived at Diagonal Alley. Harry had forgotten that today was usually the day where the Weasleys and Hermione shopped for school things. A part of him wanted to join them while another, and perhaps stronger, part wanted him to turn around and run away before they could get a chance of seeing him.

Harry decided on a third opportunity, he kept his head low and walked down Diagonal Alley. If he was lucky none of them would pay him any attention.

Mrs. Weasley's voice cut through the air like a knife. "Well, it is only good that headmaster Dumbledore got rid of that boy. Can you imagine how dangerous it would have been if he had been allowed back to school? It was a good thing the headmaster found out that you-know-who still was inside the boy. It is a shame that he had to kill the Potter boy but it was for the greater good, as Dumbledore himself said."

Not wanting to believe what he had just heard Harry stood like frozen and watched as Hermione, Ron and Ginny followed Mrs. Weasley into a shop.

They really believe he was evil?

Well, not evil. But they still thought it was okay to kill him just because Dumbledore said that he housed Voldemort? Ginny had been host for Voldemort's soul for nearly a year and no one had tried to kill her for that. Well, other than Tom Riddle, but that did not count.

He felt tears falling and wiped them off. He would not stand and cry. They could believe what they wanted to for all he cared. But it still hurt to find out that the ones he considered his family were willing to think such about him.

Harry wondered if Remus did believe what Dumbledore had said. Perhaps he should try and find the werewolf to explain what really had happened. But nearly all of the marauders had been loyal to Dumbledore and Harry would not risk Remus telling Dumbledore that he was still alive. Then he would have to flee somewhere and hide. He doubted very much that either Dumbledore or Voldemort would leave him alone.

The only place he would be left in peace would be the muggle world where no one besides his relatives knew about him. There he could move into a little house and play the mad man on the street that all the kids were scared of and dared their friends to go in and knock on his door.

The thought made Harry smile when he stepped into Gringotts. At least the bank did not change no matter how much time passed. Thought, when he looked closer, he saw that a few more humans were working among the goblins. Perhaps the goblins had learned that not all humans were as bad as they thought.

Harry snorted at the thought, gaining the attention from several people around him. He just shook his head and waited until they moved on. Harry was thankful that he had changed when he was back in time. As it was right now people would not be able to recognise him After all, they thought Harry Potter was dead. And even if they did not think so Harry had changed a great deal. His hair was now long and reached the end of his back. Without his glasses he did not look as much as his father and the scar was hidden from view. And no one would expect Potter to wear something else than his school robes or muggle clothes.

Knowing he better had to get over with this Harry walked up to one of the counters with a goblin behind. He did not trust a human to be able to keep their mouth closed. At least the goblins knew when to speak and when to keep silent.

The goblin was currently writing something and Harry waited for it to finish. He knew that they hated being interrupted and though he wanted to get out of view it was better to wait until the goblin was ready to help him. It would be hard enough to convince it to help him as it was.

Harry used the time to observe the goblin. It was a fairly young male. Now where Harry thought about it he could not remember seeing any female goblins. He would have to talk with Ragnok about it once he got to see the goblin again. If he was lucky it would only be in a few minutes.

"May I help you with something?" Harry sent the goblin a warm smile, ignoring the sneer, and the goblin nearly seemed surprised though it managed to hide it before it broke though. "Yes, I was hoping you would be able to tell me, if Ragnok is here today?"

"Who is asking?"

"An old friend. You can say that Evan James has returned."

The goblin frowned as if it actually had heard the name before, before nodding. "Very well, I will send a messenger to him but do not expect anything. You can wait until he has time to send you an answer."

"Actually, I will bet that when he hears about whom it is he will ask me to come to him. Just to be sure, please tell him that I know he worries about me, no matter what he says."

Again the goblin looked confused but Harry was already on his way over to the seats where he would be waiting. Other people were already there but they ignored each other. Harry sat down on a free chair a little away from them and leaned back in the chair.

He felt tired to the bone and wondered how long he would be able to go on. He knew he should have waited a day or two before seeking out Ragnok but Harry wanted to know what had happened and currently Ragnok was the only one he trusted enough to ask.

While he waited he would just rest his eyes for a little while, it was not like it would hurt anybody.

Harry had fallen asleep because the next moment he opened his eyes he found a new goblin in front of him, dressed in Gringotts' uniform. "Mr. James?" Harry nodded and sat up in the chair. "That is me."

"Please follow me; lord Ragnok is ready to see you."

Wondering for how long he had been asleep Harry stood to follow the goblin. Looking around he decided it could not have been for long. The others who had been waiting glared at him. It was clear that they were not happy that he was getting in before them when they had waited longer.

Unable to resist Harry made a mock bow before he disappeared out of view together with the goblin.

While they walked none of them talked. Harry was busy looking around; trying to see how much had changed since his last visit. As he had expected not much had changed. One thing was different though. There were fewer humans deeper inside of Gringotts. Harry guessed it was because of the war or perhaps humans and goblins were less friendly than they once had been.

He followed the young goblin through corridors he had not wandered in, in more than fifty years. Harry smiled at the thought. To him it was only yesterday he had met Fudge and now the child was a man and the minister of magic. Harry wondered if the minister's mother still was alive. Perhaps he should pay her a visit. After all, it did not seem like she had taken his warning to her heart.

They stopped outside a familiar door and the goblin knocked. When answer came the door opened and Harry stepped inside the office, leaving the goblin out in the corridor.

Not much had changed inside Ragnok's office. A few more things had been added but everything else was as it had been last time he had been on visit.

Ragnok sat behind the desk, working on some papers. Harry did not bother trying to look into them. He still remembered that curse Ragnok had sent after him when he had been a little too interested in the goblin's work.

The goblin looked older but not by much. Other than more winkles Harry could not say that anything had changed about Ragnok and for that Harry was thankful. At least someone looked like he remembered them from fifty years ago.

"Hello Ragnok, I think I am in need of a little help."

**First chapter finished. Please tell me what you thought about it. Many reviews is equal to long chapters. **

**Until next time. **


	2. Chapter 2

**So many reviews. I thought I was dreaming when I opened my mail and saw all those reviews. So I closed my laptop and went back to bed. When I tried again there was even more reviews. **

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

**Parseltongue**

**Beta: The one and only**** angelhitomie. All mistakes are solely mine. **

Most people thought it was impossible to surprise the goblins and he was sure many had tried before him. Now Harry had a proof that it could be done. The quill Ragnok had been using lay useless at the desk and Ragnok's hand opened and clenched as if he did not know what had happened to it.

It was the only hint Harry had about Ragnok's shock about seeing him. But he had known the goblin long enough to know how to read the signs.

When Ragnok did not move nor say anything Harry started to get nervous. Truth to be told he had not thought this through and would not be surprised should Ragnok decide to throw him out of Gringotts.

All too slow Ragnok got up from his chair and walked around the desk. Harry bit his lower lip as Ragnok stopped in front of him. Neither of them spoke but they watched each other in silence. His throat was dry and Harry had to force himself not to fidget under Ragnok's gaze. Who knew that Ragnok's glare cold be so much like professor Snape's?

Finally Ragnok twisted his mouth in a way which could nearly be called a smirk. But only those who knew the goblin well would understand what it meant. "And where have you been hiding yourself the last fifty years, Mr. James? Do you have any idea of how much Gringotts has lost because of your sudden disappearance?"

"I did not plan for it to happen. If that had been the case I would have made sure to tell you beforehand. But it is good to know that you missed me."

The old goblin snorted. "So you think. How many times do I have to say it? I do not care about you, but about what money we get having you working for Gringotts." Harry shook his head with a smile. It seemed like this argument would never get old.

Ragnok seemed to have decided something and nodded to himself, while taking Harry's hand and dragged the dark haired wizard over to the desk. Ragnok got him to sit in one of the chairs before he walked back around the desk and took seat in his own chair. "Well, Mr. James, I think you owe me an explanation." Harry nodded. "Just hear my out and promise you will not interrupt me. Once I am finished you are welcome to ask any questions you might have. What I am about to tell you might sound like a fairy tale but I swear it is real."

The goblin cut him of with a glare. "If you do not get started you will get to see why we goblins are rumoured to have a bloody culture."

Harry grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "I just thought you would like to be warned, Ragnok. Very well, it all started around a month ago when the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, called me to his office."

**)00(**

Voldemort was anything else than happy as he listened to the death eater's report about the latest raid. They could not come up with something new that he did not already know and most of them tried to put the blame on the others for whatever mistake they might have made so they would not have to deal with the punishments. He made sure they got punished for that.

"Severus, any news about the Potter boy's disappearance?" The death eater who had just finished his report joined the other followers while the potion master stepped forth and bowed with a low: "My lord."

The potion master had changed ever since the Potter boy had disappeared. None of them believed Dumbledore's claim that Potter should have joined their side. After all, how could he be a follower when Voldemort himself had not welcomed the boy into their gang of merry killers?

Severus was thinner than normally and his hair seemed greasier. Voldemort wondered if Lucius and Narcissa were unable to take care of their lover. The loss of Potter had hit the potion master harder than any of them had thought it would. But even Voldemort had known how much the man had treasured Lily Potter nee Evans. After all, the potion master had begged him to spare her life. If not because she had not wanted to move when he ordered her to, the witch would probably still have been alive today.

"Dumbledore still says that Potter died because he joined you, my lord. When I asked him why I did not know about Potter joining, he claims that you kept it a secret for all but a trusted few. And he refuses to show anybody a body, no matter who ask. All he says is that we have to believe his word and he want to spare us from seeing the body."

"So there is a chance that the brat is still alive?"

Voldemort cursed lowly when Severus nodded. Thought he knew that Severus wanted the boy to be alive he would have to die. The prophecy said so.

"And how have Potter's friends taken the news?"

Severus' sneer grew and Voldemort knew he would not like what he was about to hear. "The Weasley clan have all turned their backs to him, claiming that he deceived the lot of them with his act. But some of them seem to doubt Dumbledore's words, if only a little. Granger does not say much but she believes in authority figures. And in her eyes Dumbledore is the ultimate authority figure there is."

"And what about the wolf, Remus Lupin I believe his name is?"

Out of the corner of his eye Voldemort noted how Fenrir peaked up when Mr. Lupin's name was mentioned. Voldemort knew all about Greyback's feelings for the other werewolf. It was the reason to why Greyback had bitten the other man when they were both children.

"Lupin has disappeared. He announced that his pup would never turn dark and then he left the meeting. No one has seen him or been able to come in contact with him. Because of this the Order has lost those few packs they had managed to convince to join their case since Lupin just left."

"Brilliant, Greyback see if you can get them to join our side."

The werewolf left the meeting room and was followed out by three other werewolves. As a leader himself Voldemort understood that Greyback would not go to a meeting without backup. It was the only reason to why Voldemort allowed him to do this.

"Severus, stay behind, the rest of you are allowed to go home." When none of them moved Voldemort snapped. "Leave before I kill the lot of you!"

The two wizards waited until the last one had disappeared out of the meeting room and the door had closed behind their back. Voldemort rose from his throne and stepped down to Severus who was standing and silently waiting to see what he would do.

"It is for the best of all of us that the boy is dead, he would have had to die anyway because of the prophecy." Severus nodded and bowed his head slightly so the black hair hid his face from sight. "I know. But if there was a body he could have been buried. I know that Lily at least would have wanted that."

Voldemort placed a hand on his apprentice's shoulder. "Now we have yet another reason to get revenge on Dumbledore."

"Yes my lord. Is there anything else you wish to speak about?"

The tone in Severus' voice told Voldemort that the other wizard wanted to be allowed to go. It was hidden but Voldemort knew the younger man well enough to be able to hear it. "No, that was all for today."

"Should I send someone to your chambers tonight, my lord?"

"No, go join your lovers instead. I think they fear I will keep you for myself all day."

Severus bowed the best he could with his master's hand still on his should. "I wish you a good day, my lord." With that he turned around and left the room, his black robes billowing behind him.

Voldemort shook his head and returned to his throne. Nagini lay at a big pillow on the throne's left side. When he sat down her head rose. "**A penny for your thought, master**." Voldemort reached down and gently petted the big snake on the top of her head.

"**It is about the Potter boy**."

"**The one you want to kill?**"

"**Yes, something tells me that he is not as dead as Dumbledore wants me to believe.**"

"**I see. Do you think master's mate would have wanted you to kill the boy**?"

At the mentioning of his dead lover Voldemort could not help but sneer. "**Evan was weak and let himself get killed. It does not matter what he would have thought, because he is not here.**"

The hand which was not petting Nagini reached under his robes and his fingers closed around the necklace he had gotten so many years ago. Not even now he could get himself to take the necklace of.

"I wonder how much would have been different if you had still been alive, Evan."

There was no one who answered him.

**)00(**

"And that is how I ended up sitting in front of you, fifty years in the future, which is actually the time I belong to." Harry ended his tale ad leaned back in the chair with a sigh. Who would have thought it would be so tiring to speak for so long? Right now he wanted nothing more than to go to bed and forgot about everything which had happened.

He watched Ragnok through half lid eyes. As promised the goblin had not spoken a single word while Harry had talked. Now all he could do was to wait and see what Ragnok would do.

"That was an interesting story, Mr. James, or should I call you Mr. Potter?" Harry shrugged. "It does not really matter to me. But Potter was my parents' surname so let us stick to that."

"Very well, Mr. Potter. Let me be honest I find it very hard to believe what you just told me." Harry slumped together in the chair. He had counted on Ragnok being willing to help him but it seemed like he would have to do without the goblin's help.

"But since I can come with no other explanation to how you know all this I guess I will have to believe your story."

Harry's face lit up in a smile and it was only Ragnok's glare which stopped him from jumping up and hugging the goblin. Perhaps he knew what he was thinking about. Something told him being hugged by anyone was not something the goblin liked.

"May I ask what you have planned to do now? I hope you are aware of the fact that Mr. Dumbledore has declared you dead. Therefore it will be dangerous for you to walk around in the open. And Mr. James died many years ago." Harry shrugged. "I have not really thought that far. Tell me, what happened to my money? Both those I had fifty years ago but also those my parents left for me."

Ragnok looked through some papers before he finally answered his question. "Since you did not have a will when you were Evan James, the money went to Gringotts. Now where you are back it is my duty to inform you that you can get the money back." Ragnok looked everything else than pleased about the thought about giving money back, even though it rightfully belonged to Harry.

Harry frowned at what the goblin had told him. It meant Tom had had nothing to live of while he had been gone. He would have had to do with whatever money he had gotten from the school's trust fond.

"After Mr. Dumbledore claimed you were dead he tried to gain access to your vault. But since there was no body we have frozen your vault. If nothing had happened after a year we would have gone through your parents' will to see where the money should go. If nothing was written the money would have gone to Gringotts."

Harry sat for several minutes without saying anything or moving while he thought. "I want you to keep the Potter vault frozen. It is best if no one knows that I am still alive. That will give me the opportunity to move without having to watch for enemies whenever I go. I would also like to gain access to the money I earned as Evan James; no one will get to no about this money."

"It will be done."

Harry opened his mouth to say something when his lungs started to cramp. Harry wrapped his arms around his chest, hoping against knowledge that he would be able to stop the fit before it started. He closed his eyes while the burning started spreading in his lungs. When he started coughing Harry brought a hand up to his mouth, knowing what was about to happen.

Warm blood his hand and Harry's mouth was filled with a metallic taste. Curling into a ball in a desperate attempt to lessen the pain Harry fell down from the chair he had been sitting on. He did not feel the pain when his body came in contact with the hard floor. Instead he rolled onto his side, coughing and gasping for air.

Tears stung his eyes while Harry tried to concentrate on anything else than the pain he was feeling. Everything else would be better. Hell, he was willing to be under the Cruciatus if he thought it would help him.

When the fit stopped after what felt like forever to him, Harry did not move from his spot at the floor. Instead he just rested his head on the cool floor and tried to get as much air as possible down in his lungs.

Moving his hand from his mouth to breathe easier Harry head a gasp from somewhere to his left. Harry opened his eyes and cursed silently. He had forgotten that he was not alone inside the office. Tilting his head a little Harry got Ragnok in sight.

The goblin was watching him with narrowed eyes and if not because Harry knew better, he would say that Ragnok actually looked worried. Harry shook his head, slightly amused. He knew that was not the case. Ragnok probably feared that there would be blood on the floor.

With a wandless spell Harry banished the blood from his face and hand. This reminded Harry a little too much of when Tom had found out about his illness. This time Harry knew he would not get way with taking the easy way out of it by oblivating Ragnok.

"To me it seems like you left something out of your story." Harry nodded since he did not trust his voice enough right now to actually speak. "Is it the first time or have you had these kind of fits before?"

Harry sat up and closed his eyes in hope of stopping the world from spinning so much. "I have had this for a long time." He did not elaborate on. "But it does not matter."

"What are you talking about? Of course it matters. We have to contact a healer so we can find out what is wrong with you. Otherwise we will be unable to find a cure. I knew you were stupid but I never-"

Harry silenced the goblin with a glare. "I am dying. And to be honest, I do not care. There is nothing for me to stay alive for anymore. Most of my friends are either dead or think I am dead. And should I show myself they would not hesitate to kill me. Tom is here no longer. Voldemort has taken his place. And Voldemort wants me dead. So, please tell me, what reason do I have to stay alive for?"

When Ragnok did not answer Harry got on his feet with a silent sigh. "You do not have to worry about it, Ragnok. You are a good friend, but I want to go on. I have too many people waiting for me on the other side. But before I am able to join them, there are a few tings which need to be done first."

He walked over to the door but stopped with his hand on the door handle. "Let the Potter money and whatever else which belongs to the Potter family go to Remus Lupin, the last true marauder. If there is something from my mother's childhood it should go to Professor Severus Snape. And when I am dead Tom Riddle is going to inherit everything which belonged to Evan James. I will send you some letters which will have to be given to each of them."

With that Harry opened the door and left.

**)00(**

Ragnok awoke from the trance like state he had been under from the moment Mr. Potter had told he was dying, when his office's door closed behind Mr. Jam- Potter's back. With a low curse he ran across the office and forced the door open. But when he looked outside Mr. Potter had already disappeared from sight.

Spitting out another curse which made his co-workers turn around to look at him Ragnok slammed his door closed. He would not run after Mr. Potter. It would lead attention to the boy which none of them wished for.

Ragnok returned to his desk. Mr. Potter had asked him to form the wills so three people would get his things once he died.

The goblin grabbed the quill he had forgotten all about when Mr. Potter first entered his office. He knew what he was supposed t do now where he had gotten his orders. At the same time he could not get the picture of the blood around Mr. Potter's mouth out of his mouth. He wanted to help the wizard, something only a few goblins felt in their lives. And even fewer followed up on that feeling.

His face lit up in a sudden grin and Ragnok was thankful that no one was in his office together with him. He was not sure what they would have done should they have heard his laughter or seen his grin.

Evan James, Harry Potter, no matter what the wizard called himself he was about to learn a very important lesson.

No one made the goblins lose money without paying for the consequences.

**)00(**

When he stepped out of the doors of Gringotts Harry hurried to disappear into the crowd. The number of people in Diagonal Alley had lessened in the time he had spent in Gringotts. It made it easier for Harry to move around but at the same time it would be harder to hide or disappear should it be necessary.

To say Harry was surprised that Ragnok had not followed after him or tried to stop him when he left the office was an understatement. At the same time he was thankful. He would not like using magic to stop Ragnok from trying to hold him back. After all, the goblin only wanted to help him.

Harry snorted at the thought and made several people glance at him though he ignored them. He remembered when Dobby had tried to help him. The house elf had done more harm than good but Harry could not find it in him to hate the house elf. But he knew that he would avoid Dobby for now.

He was tired. Not just tired in the way where he wanted to lay down ad sleep. He was tired of everything and just wanted it all to end.

But before he could go to sleep he had something to do, as he had told Ragnok.

Dumbledore would have to be stopped. The man had destroyed his life so many times and he had taken Tom away from him. It was because of him that Tom was gone and Voldemort was in his place instead.

Harry wanted revenge on the man who was the reason why he would never be able to be with his lover again.

When it was done he would be able to go to sleep and if he was lucky he would never have to wake up again.

Seeing several red heads ahead Harry made sure to keep his head down so his scar was hidden behind his fringe. He had no wish about being found. Especially not by the Weasleys. If one of them found out that he was alive he held not doubt that they would run to Dumbledore and tell what they had seen. It would make it even harder for him to get his revenge than it already was.

As they passed Harry could not help but glance at the family. Mrs. Weasley was still leading her two children and Hermione to wherever they were going. His three friends were walking close together and looked around, as if they feared they might be attacked. Mrs. Weasley did not seem to note anything and Harry was thankful that she was silent.

It hurt to think that those people he thought of as a family thought he deserved to die by the hand of Dumbledore. The thought made Harry's eyes sting but he refused to cry. If they would not cry for him then he refused to cry over the loss of the only family which he remembered.

Besides, he had had Tom. His lover had been more like family than any of those would ever be for him.

Though he tried to convince himself Harry could not stop himself from feeling hurt. Harry guessed it would be much like when Sirius had died. It would take time before it stopped hurting so much. The only difference was that Sirius was dead and they were not.

Harry looked away from the little group. Just a year ago he would have been together with them, laughing and for a short time he would be allowed to forget whatever worry he might have. He wondered if that also would have been the case if Dumbledore had not tried to kill him.

Shaking his head Harry hurried away. He had to find a place to stay for the night while he sorted through his thoughts. He had thought about going to the cottage but decided against it. He would visit the place on a later date to see if someone was living there. After all, it would not do if he came through the fireplace and somebody already lived there.

Ironically Harry ended in the same little room in Knockturn Alley where he had been the first night when he had awoken back in time. Luckily the rooms they rented were still cheap so Harry had enough with what little money he had left in his pocket. He would have to get more money tomorrow but he would do something about it once the new day had started.

The place was just as creepy as he remembered it. Harry wondered if the owner had never thought about changing the decor but Harry did not care. As long as the Aurors and those members of the Order of the Phoenix stayed away he would be more than happy to stay for the time being.

Right now Harry lay in the bed and stared up at the ceiling. It felt weird to be alone when he was about to sleep. He had gotten used to having either Tom or Nagini with him in bed.

Harry smiled. Now he knew where Tom had gotten the snake from. He wondered why Nagini had not recognised him when they had met back in his forth year. On the other hand if she and Voldemort had started to claim that he was Evan James he would truly have believed that they were crazy. Not that he not already did.

He shook his head. Tom and Voldemort were entirely two different persons. The sooner he realised that the easier it would be for him to realise that Tom was gone and would never return.

Rolling onto his side Harry closed his eyes.

He would see what the next day would bring him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Some people have been asking to Harry's age. You will get the answer in this chapter, I hope. **

**Beta: The one and only ****angelhitomie**

**Warning: You have seen them in the other chapters. I will put new ones up as they become necessary.**

**Disclaimer: Still not mine. **

The sun had yet to rise when Harry awoke the next morning. He laid in the small bed, wondering where he was, why he was not in his bed in the cottage and why his chest was so sore.

Sighing he ran a hand through his hair. "I am really back." He smiled bitterly, not caring that there was no one in the room to hear him. Sitting up and swinging his legs over the bed's edge Harry winced when his bare feet came in contact with the cold floor. "One would think that wizards would think of casting a warming charm on the floor. But of course not. They can cast all kinds of dark curses but not a decent warming charm."

Though Harry wanted to go back to sleep he got up and started getting himself ready for the day. He had only rented the room for one night He found it best not to stay in one place too long, even if people thought he was dead. It was not to know who he would stumble upon. Should it happen Harry held no doubt that it would not be a pretty sight, no matter what side they belonged to.

Being fully dressed Harry left the room and ventured downstairs. He did not have anything else with him than the clothes he had been wearing the day when Hogsmeade had been attacked. It made it easier for him should it be necessary to suddenly leave. Besides he was less likely to get ambushed if he did not wear anything of value in sight. Of course there was such a thing as a shrinking charm so he would have to stay on guard when he went out. And he made sure his necklace and the bell were safely hidden under his robes. Harry had no wish of losing the few belongings he had left.

Eating his breakfast, a potion of grey gruel, slowly, Harry pondered on what to do. He knew he would have to take care of Dumbledore but he had yet to figure out how to do it. Dumbledore had been powerful fifty years ago and Harry doubted the wizard had wasted his time since then.

It ruled out the choice to face the man and fight with him as a Gryffindor. Harry had a feeling that Dumbledore would try and play dirty in such duels.

It meant he would have to find another way to take care of the problem called Dumbledore.

Harry leaned back in his chair and sighed. His hand sought under his robes to play with the necklace while he allowed himself to be in deep thoughts.

The sickness he suffered from would slowly but surely kill him that much he knew. Harry wondered if it would have been different if he had gone to a healer when he had started having those fits. But the healers would have asked questions he would have been unable to answer.

How was he supposed to explain that it had started when he had been sent back in time because his old headmaster had tried to kill him? Either they would have thought he was crazy or he would have been shipped of to the Ministry so the Unspeakables could experiment on him.

Neither was something he would have liked and now he did not even have the opportunity to go to St. Mungo's or seek out a healer. Harry Potter was supposed to be dead and though he had changed he still had the scar at his forehead. One glance at the scar and they would know who he was.

At least he did not have the glasses any longer so he did not look as much like his father as he once had done. And his hair was no longer so unruly since he had let it grow long.

Feeling someone watch him in a way which made the small hairs on his arms rise, Harry glanced around in hope of finding out of whom it was.

There were not many guests downstairs this early in the morning. Harry guessed that most of them were either sleeping or had already left the inn.

Other than him and the owner of the inn, who was standing behind the counter and reading the news paper, Harry counted four other people in the room. The first two of them was a couple of vampires, a man and a woman, by the look of it they were very close. Even though they both wore cloaks which hid their features Harry was sure they were vampires. The blood they were drinking told him that much.

Seeing that the vampires only paid attention to their meal Harry wrote them off of the list but he decided to keep an eye on them anyway. The last time he had encountered a vampire it had not went well. Not for the vampire anyway.

His eyes wandered over to the third person in the room. The blond hair and the man's beauty reminded him of a combination between a Malfoy and a veela. Harry wondered what had happened to Mortimus. Since Lucius was lord Malfoy now he knew that his friend and Abraxas were dead now.

Deciding that this man was not the one watching him Harry turned his attention towards the last person in the room.

Green eyes looked directly into amber coloured eyes Harry's breath got caught in his throat. He had seen posters with wanted death eaters when he was still a student at Hogwarts. One of them he had noted was Fenrir Greyback, a werewolf rumoured of turning small children into his kind.

Harry's fingers twisted as if to grab his wand until he remembered that he no longer had one. He scratched his hip as if it was what he had wanted to do all the time even though they both knew that it was not the case.

Greyback grinned and showed his teeth which were way to sharp to belong to a normal human. He gulped, unable to look away from the sight in front of him. He knew that Greyback served Voldemort and if the werewolf knew who he was he would be brought to Voldemort faster than he could say lumos.

Bowing his head a little Harry broke eye contact with the werewolf. He worried his lower lip between his teeth and played with what was left of his breakfast while he thought of what to do.

Since Greyback was there, there could be other death eaters nearby. Harry cursed the fact that he had never thought of what to do should he end in this kind of situation.

It could also be that Greyback was there because he wanted something to eat. Harry was sure that there were places which served better food but he did not know how many of those places would let a werewolf in.

He had known that there would be a risk of coming face to face with one or more of Voldemort's followers. It was not like they could walk freely around in Diagonal Alley since most of them were wanted people. Then there were people like Lucius Malfoy, who had been cleared from charges and who most believed was innocent.

While eating and thinking Harry continued watching Greyback out of the corner of his eyes. Other than Remus Greyback was the first real werewolf he had met. The two men could not have been anymore different than they were. Where Remus looked ragged and tired Greyback looked healthy and every bit of the predator they both knew he was.

Unlike Remus Greyback did not wear robes. Instead the werewolf was dressed in clothes which looked like it had been made of an animal's fur. Greyback's food nearly made Harry lose his appetite, raw meat lay on the man's plate and blood was dripped down from his chin. It did not look like anyone had bothered to try and teach the werewolf any manners… Somehow he understood why.

Finishing the last of his breakfast Harry got up from the chair and headed outside. He had paid for the room and breakfast when he checked in yesterday. It seemed like they feared that their customers would run away in the middle of the night. Or perhaps they feared that the customers would be killed before they could pay should they decide to wait to the next morning.

Getting out of the small inn Harry turned left and walked down Knockturn Allay and away from Diagonal Alley. He knew it would be easier to lose a pursuer in a crowded place. But if Greyback was following him the werewolf would know that and would probably send people ahead to stop him before he could get that far. This way he would perhaps have a chance to get away.

It did not take long before Harry knew for sure that he was being followed. He caught a glimpse of Greyback's big body in the shops' windows. The werewolf was too close to hide from him, but it also would make it harder for Harry to find a way to get away from him.

Harry continued his walk down Knockturn Alley in a slow pace, as if he had no idea that he was being followed. Instead he stopped up whenever there was something which caught his interest. It also gave him a chance to glance around without it being noticed, he hoped.

As far as Harry could see Greyback was the only one following him. Of course there could be others hidden from view but Harry counted on his famous luck in this case. Otherwise he was not sure what he was supposed to do to get away.

He started regretting not heading towards Diagonal Alley. Only a few people were out on the street at this time of the day, which made it impossible for Harry to disappear into the crowd. And even if he should success in doing so Greyback could easily sniff him out with those werewolf senses of his. He had to find another way to get away from Greyback.

Harry started to get nervous, well more than he already was. He had only been in Knockturn Alley a few times and the whole alley had changed since his last visit.

Greyback started getting closer to him, no matter how fast Harry tried to walk. The werewolf was bigger and had longer legs than him so it would not take long for him to catch up with him. It seemed like whatever the werewolf was planning it would happen soon. Having no wish to stay and see what would happen Harry decided that it was time for him to disappear.

Harry rounded a corner and stepped into a blind alley. Not caring about what kind of trash and what else he was stepping on Harry walked deeper into the blind alley.

Knowing he would not have much time before Greyback would come around the corner Harry turned into Beleza. Suddenly shrinking in size and having to stand at four legs instead of two took some time to get used to.

Shaking his head to clear it for thoughts Harry started to look around for a place to hide. It would have to be a place where Greyback would not think of looking for him and where he could hide from the werewolf's senses.

His cat nose was much more sensitive to the smell around him and Harry sneezed a few times before he got an idea. He would he would probably regret it but at least it would be better than to end up in front of Voldemort.

Now giving himself time to feel disgusted Harry drove into the most smelling pile of…whatever it was.

Harry moved around, until he was sure every bit of him was hidden from view and so he was able to see what was going on around him.

Settling down he tried to ignore the smell and the feeling of something sticking into his side. It was not a second too late because Greyback came around the corner and stopped.

He did nearly not dare to breathe as Greyback's eyes darted around, trying to find him in the half dark blind alley. The werewolf sniffed and then sneezed, much like Harry had done just a few seconds before, only that Greyback's sneeze was much louder than Harry's would ever be.

At least he now knew that the werewolf would not be able to find him by the smell, and if Harry had been able to he would have given himself a pat on his shoulder. Instead he kept still since Greyback stepped deeper into the alley and closer to where Harry was hiding.

From a pocket in his ragged trousers Greyback conjured a wand. Harry stiffened. The wand reminded him much of his own and though he had no need of one Harry could not help but miss his own. And at the same time he wondered what Greyback was about to do.

The answer to his question came a moment after the thought had ended.

"Point me … Damn I need a name to do that spell." If not because he was hiding in the moment Harry would have laughed. It seemed like not all death eaters were as smart as people usually thought. Of course he would have to laugh a place where Greyback would not be able to hear him. Something told Harry that Greyback was not the kind of guy who liked being laughed at. At what he could not do with magic Harry was sure he could solve with his muscles. Greyback was not one he would like to fight against.

It reminded him of Harry-hunting as his cousin and Dudley's friends had liked to play when Harry had been a child. Like now he had been forced to either run or hide. Only, here it would be far more deadly should he be found. Harry doubted very much that Greyback would just beat him up and then leave him.

"Stupid wizard, think you can hide from me?" Greyback took another step in his direction and Harry felt his heart beat faster as adrenaline was pumped through his veins. He was ready to run should Greyback find him. Harry knew from books that werewolves were not easy to fight against. They were immune to most magic and strong, even when it was not full moon.

The werewolf took a step and stepped in something slippery. He fell and when he hit the ground Harry swore he could feel the ground under him shake because of Greyback's weight. The werewolf cursed and got up from the ground, a lot dirtier than he already was. His face was red from anger and he looked ready to kill someone. Harry was just glad that Greyback did not know where he was hiding.

If he had been human in the moment Harry would have snickered. At least he would not be the only one who had the smell hanging around him when they once left the alley.

Greyback glanced around in the alley and sniffed before snorting. "He is probably already long gone. It is not like I do not have better things to do than this." The werewolf kicked a can and sent it flying through the air and into one of the shadows. Then he turned around and left with long strides.

Harry did not dare to move a single muscle after Greyback had left. Finally deciding that the werewolf was not waiting for him just around the corner Harry moved out of his hiding place. He had gotten enough of the smell and longed for a warm bath with a lot of soap. He doubted he would ever get the awful smell off him.

Still in form as Beleza, since he would not risk of running into another death eater and be recognised, Harry left the blind alley. A few people seemed to note him but those who tried to come near him were scared away by the smell. Harry guessed it was not only to his over sensitive nose he smelled.

**)00(**

Voldemort was in his office working on his plans for the next raid, when someone knocked on his door. He kept his wand in the pocket of his robe since it was only his death eaters who had access to the manor. And even if one of them should decide to betray him he could use wandless magic, a fact that he did not bother trying to hide.

He laid down the quill not bothering to hide his papers. It was one of the good things about being a Parselmouth. Salazar Slytherin had found a method to write in that language and with Potter out of the picture no one else would be able to read what he was writing.

But it did not mean he would start being careless and start letting his plans lying around where anyone could find them. There were translation charms which perhaps would make other people understand what he had written; at least theoretically they should be able to.

He rose a non-existing eyebrow when Fenrir Greyback entered. "Are you not supposed to be out to get those packs to join us?" Greyback nodded. Unlike his other followers the werewolf alpha did not have to bow. Voldemort knew how much he could get others to do. Pushing Greyback too far would only make him lose the support he got from the werewolves.

"I have sent my people out for that. The leaders of the other packs would see me as a weak alpha should I go instead of sending people in my place." Voldemort nodded. None of them had to say the other reason to why Greyback had sent people out. After all, people could be replaced but there would only be one leader.

"I assume that you are here for a reason. Or is my company so good that you find yourself unable to stay away?" Greyback barked out a loud laugh. "No, my lord, but I think you might be interested in what I have to tell you."

Without being offered Greyback took seat in one of the black leather chairs Voldemort had in front of his desk. Voldemort made a note to himself about ordering the houseelves to clean the whole room when Greyback left. The werewolf was not exactly what he would call clean. It looked like he had been rolling in trash and something dead.

When the silence had continued for long enough Voldemort started to get impatient. "Well, do tell me what you come to say. Some of us have things to do, raids to order, people to torture."

Greyback leaned forth in the chair and looked like he was about to share a big secret with him. Voldemort had seen this countless of times and did not let himself get affected.

"I saw Harry Potter today in Knockturn Alley."

Voldemort blinked.

He opened his mouth to say something, only to close it and blink again.

Greyback leaned back in the chair and Voldemort blinked again.

"Potter, you mean Harry Potter as in the boy-who-will-bloody-not-die, and who is supposed to be dead?"

"The one and only."

"And where did you see him?"

"Knockturn Alley, I believe I already said that."

Voldemort tapped a finger against his chin slowly. "And where is Mr. Potter now?" Greyback hesitated and Voldemort knew he was not going to like whatever the werewolf was going to tell him. "He got away from me though I have no idea of how he did so. I found him in an inn in Knockturn Alley; apparently he has slept there for the night."

The werewolf took a breath before he continued. "I believe he felt someone watch him but he did not figure out who it was. When I followed him he did not seem to have an idea about that he was being followed. He went into a blind alley but when I came there, there was no sign of him."

The dark lord rubbed his face. "Let me see him, I want to know if that really is Potter there." Greyback nodded and looked him in the eyes. Voldemort slipped into the werewolf's mind without a word. Only a beginner or someone training a beginner said the spell. Mostly he did it in a way so that people would have no idea of what he had done before it was already too late for them to get their defences up.

The werewolf's mind was strangely orderly and it did not take Voldemort long before he found the memory which should contain the Potter boy.

What he found in Greyback's memories what not something he had thought he would see again.

The person he found in the memory looked exactly like his Evan had done. Granted he looked a few years younger, like the first time the wizard had saved him from the other children at the orphanage. But the long, black hair and green eyes were those he had dreamed of for such a long time. Hell, the person even wore the same robes as Evan had the day he had died in Hogsmeade.

At the same time he saw Harry Potter, the boy who, apparently, had decided to stand in the way of his plans. The boy had changed since the last time he had seen him and the resemblance to his Evan was greater than ever.

Potter had always looked a lot like his death lover and for that Voldemort hated the boy more than he already did. Potter was an eternal reminder of what he had lost all those years ago. The two of them even had the same kind of scar on their foreheads.

With a sigh Voldemort pulled himself out of Greyback's mind. The werewolf sat in the chair, not looking like someone whose mind had been sought through.

"It seems like Dumbledore was not telling the truth about Mr. Potter. I wonder how he has managed to stay hidden for all this time. It is certain that he has not been in contact with any of his so called friends or Dumbledore would have known it."

Greyback did not say anything but watched him silently while Voldemort continued musing out loud. "Either Dumbledore is planning something and is telling everyone that Potter is dead so they will not ask questions about why he is missing. Perhaps he is training the boy to defeat me. It could also be that the boy has decided to run of. No matter what I want him brought to me, he is a danger I will not allow to exist."

Greyback nodded and got up from his chair. "I will be on my way then. I cannot leave the pack for long or there will be troubles. I swear it is the last time I ever turn teenagers they are more troubles than they are worth."

Voldemort said nothing as Greyback left, he knew what the next word that came over his lips would be and he did not want to torture the alpha.

Knowing that he would not get any more paperwork out of hand Voldemort got up from his seat and left his office. He locked the door and felt the wards fell in place. To honour Evan he had studied wards though he knew that he was nowhere as good as Evan had been. What his lover had missed in knowledge he had made up with his imagination.

Even after all those years it hurt to think about Evan. The wizard had taken him away from the orphanage and given him a chance that no one had been willing to give him. Voldemort wondered how much would have been different had Evan not come for him.

Seeing the Potter boy brought back memories he had thought he had managed to burry long time ago. Memories of him and Evan in the bed after having had sex, them sitting close together in front of the fireplace. Evan standing close to him, helping him with making food for the both of them.

Had anyone seen the smile Voldemort wore they would have fled, fearing for their life. Voldemort fingered the wand in his pocket. He felt like crucioing someone but for once none of his followers were anywhere to be seen. "Typically, when I do not need them they are ready to serve, but when I need someone to curse no one is there."

Voldemort continued grumbling while he walked down the corridor.

He arrived to his private chambers and opened the door after saying the password, which of course was in Parseltongue. Only two persons in the whole world spoke that so he would know who he should go after if someone had been in his chambers.

The first room he stepped into was a sitting room with a fireplace, much like the one which had been in the cottage. Voldemort wondered what had happened to that after Evan had died and he had been forced to go back to the orphanage. Perhaps he should visit it one day, see how Hubert was doing. The ghost was probably lonesome.

Voldemort shook his head. He would visit his old home when he once got time for that. Right now he had a world to take over and a person who was supposed to be dead but was walking around in broad daylight.

He crossed his room without sparing the expensive furniture a second glance. The soft rug under his feet muffled any sound he might make. The walls were hidden behind shelves with books and paintings.

There were two doors in the sitting room. One leaded to a big bathroom, which had yet another door to his bedroom. Behind the second door was his bedroom, which was where Voldemort was heading.

Nagini laid at the king sized bed with Slytherin green and blue covers. The snake did not look up when he stepped into the room but continued snoring as if she had not heard him. Voldemort stopped shortly to watch the snake.

The bed was big and the mattress was soft. How many had he not taken into the bed for one night? It was far more than he even bothered to try and count. Voldemort refused to call them his lovers. There had only been one person he would ever call that and Evan was long gone.

The bed had been purchased with Evan in his thoughts. He could not help but think of how his lover would have looked in the bed, naked and waiting for him.

Voldemort shook his head to clear it from thoughts. Through time he had brought a great amount of lovers to his bed though no one had been as good as Evan. With Evan he had felt complete in a way he had never felt before. As if they were equal.

The dark lord sighed. He wondered what Evan would say if his lover could see him now. Though Evan had never been one to think about a person's look he was pretty sure that his lover would have been disgusted by the way he looked now. The ritual had restored his body but he looked nowhere near how he had done when he had been Tom Riddle.

Deciding that it was something which he would have to change Voldemort decided to call Severus. He was sure the potion master would be able to come up with a potion which would give him his old looks back. He could do it himself but it would be hard to find time to research and actually make the potion between all the other things. Besides, Severus was a potion master, he made potion for fun.

Voldemort shook his head and headed to the bathroom. Perhaps he would just take the rest of the day of. Seeing the Evan look alike had shaken him far more than he thought it would ever do. Had someone told Potter about Evan? The only one he could think of who would do that would be Dumbledore and Voldemort somehow doubted that the headmaster would do that. Dumbledore had always despised Evan because of how powerful the other wizard had been and because of Grindelwald's interest in him.

But as soon as he had taken care of the Potter boy he would no longer have to be reminded of Evan.

The sound of an owl got Voldemort out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw one of Gringotts' owls sitting on his windowsill. What Gringotts wanted of him he did not know, since he did not have an account in the bank.

And why had Nagini not bothered trying to eat the feather ball?

**)00(**

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore sat in his office in Hogwarts looking out of his window and sucking on one of his lemon drops. The students would soon return to school and then the school would be filled with life and laughter again.

Right now only a few people were at the school. To be more specific it was him, Hagrid and Argus Filch. The other professors were home, on vacations or visiting their families. They would soon return so they would be ready to welcome the students when they arrived with the Hogwarts Express.

The student and teaching staff had taken the news about Potter's dead without much disturbance. Of course there were those who did not believe his word. The Slytherins, of which most had parents who were death eaters did not believe that the Potter boy was evil.

Of course they did not say it out loud, after all they were Slytherins. And even if they did it was not like anyone would believe them since Slytherin was the house of evil.

When James Potter had first arrived at Hogwarts Albus had been shocked about the resemblance to Evan James, the one he had killed as revenge when the wizard had killed Grindelwald.

He had made sure to keep an eye on the Potter heir, feeling that there was some kind of connection between the Potter heir and Mr. James. It was only the fact that he had not had green eyes which had stopped Albus from cursing the life out of the boy.

When James had started dating Lilly Evans Albus had gotten a strong feeling of where it was going.

Then they had gotten married just after they graduated from Hogwarts and not long after that Lilly had become pregnant.

When he had held the child in his arms Albus had known that this was the one. This child was Evan James, the one who had killed his lover, fifty years back in time.

Albus had started planning. Voldemort, once known as Tom Riddle, had been big at that time. Albus only found it fitting that Voldemort would be the one to kill what should have been his lover. It had not been hard to dose Trelawney with a potion which made her say whatever he wanted and luck had been on his side when Severus Snape had been there in the right moment to hear the prophecy and then bring it to Voldemort.

But the plan had failed. James and Lilly Potter died but the brat was left alive, and then he got famous for surviving the Killing curse and banishing Voldemort, though Albus knew that the so called dark lord was not gone.

Afterwards he had done as much as possible to get rid of the brat. He had placed him with the Dursleys even though the will of the Potters had said that their son never was to see them unless he was off age and wanted to. And if that was the case he had their permission to prank his relatives as much as he wanted to, as long as he did not end in Azkaban for it.

It had not broken the boy's spirit and when Potter had arrived to Hogwarts Dumbledore had continued trying to get rid off of him, while he continued playing the grandfather act so that no one would suspect him when something happened to the brat.

But no matter what he had done the brat had managed to survive. The stones in his first year, the basilisk in the second year, the dementors in the brat's third year. Black had just been an excuse to get the dementors to Hogwarts, after all he had known that Sirius had not been the Potter's secret keeper. But to be able to place Potter with the Dursleys he had needed to get Black out of the way first.

Even the events in his fourth and fifth year had Potter survived, and Albus, feeling time running out for him, had decided to take matters in his own hands.

But even though he had killed the damned brat nothing had gone as he had wanted to. He had lost Lupin's support and therefore the support of those few werewolf packs they had managed win for their case.

Not only that but they were no longer able to hold meetings at Grimmauld Place. The house simply refused to let anyone in and Albus was unable to do something. It would not do to alert the death eaters and Voldemort about were the headquarters was.

Albus cursed the fact that he had forgotten to make the brat make a will before he killed him. Now Narcissa was the owner of the Black vaults and properties since Bellatrix Lestrange was a refuge.

He had a feeling that this year would be eventful and Albus was not sure if it was a good thing or not.

**Should anyone doubt, Harry is sixteen again**

**A long chapter so I expect some reviews from you people.**

**Next time: Find out what the letter to Voldemort says. **

**Until then. **


	4. Chapter 4

**People has been asking questions about why Harry was not told about being Sirius' heir, I hope this chapter will clear it.**

**And for those of you who do not understand why Voldemort can not see that Evan and Harry is one and same person just remember; Love makes blind, and so does hate. **

**Disclaimer: YES, I AM J.K. ROWLING. I OWN HARRY POTTER. Now I have to go and talk with my psychologist who is trying to convince me that I am not a famous writer and actually just a normal girl… Like I am going to believe that idiot.**

**Beta: ****angelhitomie **

**Any mistakes are solely mine **

**Warning: Torturing of muggles, kind of. If you guess who is tortured and who is torturing I will give you cookies. Of course you could also just read the chapter to find out. **

_Mr. Tom M. Riddle._

_As manager for Mr. Evan James' will it is my duty to inform you, that Mr. James has made you his heir. This means you will inherit his account and his properties. _

_Since Gringotts has previously had experience with heirs who have killed their family members to receive their inheritance, it is my duty to inform you that should James' death be unnatural, or we suspect it of being arranged by you, Gringotts is able to withhold any of Mr. James' belongings._

_Should it be proved that you, as the heir to Mr. James, have tried to murder your guardian all what should have gone to you will go to the nearest relative. If there is no other relative and no other is in the will all Mr. James' belongings will go to Gringotts._

_May your account always be filled with gold._

_Ragnok ~ Manager of Mr. James' account and will_

Voldemort stared down at the letter in his hand, not sure if it was a joke. On the other hand, who would dare to joke him? It was impossible to copy the paper Gringotts used for their letters. The goblins made it themselves. And those who were stupid enough to try would be taken care of.

No one dared to use that disgusting muggle name anymore. After he had found out who he was named after he had abandoned the name and instead taken the one his lover had given him. It had just been another way for him to honour the memory of his lover.

The only ones who dared to call him that name now, and knew who he had once been, were Dumbledore and the Potter boy. Voldemort had thought he would have to deal with one less annoyance, but Potter was not as gone as he had thought he would be.

His knees suddenly felt weak after reading the letter and Voldemort sat abruptly down on his bed, not caring about waking Nagini, who hissed angrily before she went back to sleep.

Voldemort ignored the grumpy snake and instead tried to get control over his thoughts which were running wild.

He knew Evan had had a good relationship with one of the goblins in Gringotts. It was one of the reasons to why he had not attacked the bank, not even before he was reduced to a bodiless being. If he remembered right it had been Ragnok who Evan had been working together with. He had never really met the goblin but had heard him and Evan speak together over the floo countless of times.

Voldemort looked down at the paper again and frowned. If he had been Evan's heir the whole time why had he not heard about it before now? He knew that Gringotts contacted the heirs after they came of age.

But the letter should have come as soon as he turned seventeen, which was the age where he had become an adult. Not now, more than fifty years after Evan's dead. It was not like Gringotts to make a mistake like that. Looking down at the letter in his hand Voldemort frowned. It said he would inherit once Evan died.

But the problem was that Evan already was dead. Dumbledore had witnessed it. And though Voldemort had refused to believe the man at that time, when Evan had not come to take him away from the orphanage he had been forced to accept the truth. It had just made him hate the professor and any muggles more than he already did.

If the letter was true than Evan was really alive, and he had been it all the time. Voldemort frowned, wondering why his lover had not come for him if he really was alive. He came up with several reasons for that, one more unlikely than the other.

Evan could have been hurt in the fight with Grindelwald's people or if he had fought against the man himself. Then he, for some reason Voldemort could not think of, had been forced to Apparate out of the place to some safe place where he would heal and wait.

Voldemort could see several errors with that plan. What reason should Evan have had to leave Hogsmeade? His lover had had to know that Aurors had been on their way. Perhaps he had feared that he would be killed before help could arrive. But there was a problem with that. Voldemort knew that Evan could not Apparate. The wizard had never taken the time to get someone to teach it to him.

And Voldemort knew of no curse which would take so long to be cured. Unless it was not a curse but a potion and someone had only come up with a cure until recently. But it did still not explain why Evan had not contacted him a single time. His lover could at least had let him know that he was alive even if was not well.

It hurt that Evan had not trusted him enough to contact him. To let him know that he was not dead. Did Evan really care so little for what they had had together? What Voldemort wanted, had dreamed about ever since he had found out that his lover was dead.

Voldemort let out a loud curse when his drawer exploded. He needed to get his anger under control before he destroyed the whole manor. He doubted very much that it would be good for him to lose those who were inside; though some of the death eaters could be replaced.

"**What is it, master**?" Nagini, being awaked by his curse and the explosion lifted her head enough to look at him. Voldemort forced himself to calm down and petted the snake on the top of her head. "**It seems like I am going to have to send the death eaters on a hunt**."

Nagini leaned into the touch; if the snake had been able to Voldemort was sure she would have been purring. "**What will they hunt this time**?" Grinning Voldemort rose from his bed and started walking towards the door, only to turn around and face the snake. "**Evan is not as dead as we believed he was. I will get them to bring him to me. Once he is here he will never get to leave me again**."

The snake hissed. "**You mean us; you were not the only one who was left when Evan **_**died**_." Voldemort nodded, opening the door to his bathroom. He needed planning. And his best plans usually were made when he took a bath. "**Yes. This time I will make sure he does not leave us, even if I have to tie him to the bed**."

**)00(**

Harry stepped up from the bathtub and dried his body with a twist of his wrist. He did not exactly feel clean after his tour into the blind alley to hide from Greyback but he guessed it would not get much better. Unless he peeled all his skin of and then made it grow back. He was pretty sure that there would be either a spell or a potion for that. Or he could just believe that the bath had succeeded in removing the stench from him, no matter what his nose told him.

He crossed the floor while dressing himself and the sat down at the chair in the small room he had rented. His robes were already cleaned. It would be useless to bathe just to dress himself in dirty robes again.

Though there were dangers of being found by Voldemort's death eaters, or someone else who was out for his head, Harry was still in Knockturn Alley. At least here he knew that Dumbledore and the Order of Frying Chicken would not be. And no one would think he was weird because he acted suspicious, hell, it was suspicious if people did not act like they had something to hide, or were hiding from someone.

He had played with the thought of hiding in the muggle world. No one would go looking for him there. But from the Daily Prophet he knew that Voldemort was attacking muggles daily and Dumbledore had muggleborns in his order. The risk of being found was just as big as if he stayed the Wizarding world. The only difference was that he would not get in trouble for doing magic in front of people, unless he started practicing the Unforgiveable.

Facing the table and the paper he had placed there before he went to bath Harry was ready to work. He had several things he had to do and he would be dammed if he did not manage them all before he was off.

Gripping the quill and dipping it in ink Harry started writing.

_Visit the Dursleys._

_Visit mum and dad's graves._

_Kill Dumbledore. _

Harry looked down at the parchment in front of him, frowning. It did not seem so much, but then again he sincerely doubted that killing Dumbledore would be an easy thing. The other two things were just something he wanted to do. Perhaps being with Tom had had a bigger influence on him than he first had thought. But Harry did not want them to get away with what they had done to him. The Dursleys would get to feel the consequences of harming the son and godson of the marauders. They would never know what had hit them.

He had placed Dumbledore last on the list for one reason. Harry doubted he would get away alive when he killed Dumbledore. If the headmaster did not kill him he was sure there would be plenty others ready to take the revenge. Even if he managed to get away he would be hunted, both light and dark would be after him and Harry was not sure who would get him first. Them or the sickness. Perhaps he would not even get to see who it would be.

He wondered why it was, that no one had ever taken him to visit his parents' graves. Harry wanted to pay his parents respect and see where they were buried. He would have thought that Remus at least would have taken him there. But perhaps it had hurt the werewolf too much to think about the death of two of his friends. Harry would have been happy even if Snape had offered to take him to his parents' graves.

True, he had no idea of where they were buried but Harry guessed that he would be able to find out. He could ask around should it be necessary. He doubted very much that the graves of the parents to the boy-who-lived would be hard to find.

With a sigh Harry leaned back in the chair. He had no idea of how he should kill Dumbledore. Perhaps he should just trust the famous Potter luck. It had worked all the other times he had gotten into life threatening situations so he failed to see why it should not work here. On the other hand it would be nice to have to have some kind of a plan so he did not go head first into dangers as he had done before. Being Evan James he had learned to think before he acted, most of the times.

The luck got his arse into the worst kind of situations, but his luck prevented it from getting burnt extra crispy.

Looking out of the window Harry wondered how much time he would have left. He wanted it all done so he could rest in peace, if there really was such a thing. To him it seemed like the most peaceful time he had had was when he had been Evan James and had lived together with Tom. And even then there seemed to always be something which disturbed the much wanted peace.

Stretching until he heard his kinks pop Harry got up from the chair and shoved the paper into a pocket. It seemed like he had more than enough to do so he might as well get started already.

Harry left the room by jumping out of the window as Beleza. He had rented the room till tomorrow but saw no reason to stay now where he had had his bath and was clean. He wanted as much as possible done. As a cat he could not run down the alley as he wanted to. Now where he was cleaned there was nothing to make people keep their distance to him. He had suffered when Hogwarts' girls had gotten their hand on him. At least he had been sure he would get away alive, though he sometimes had doubted it. Here there would be no Tom to save him.

Keeping to the roofs Harry moved fast and easily. There was nothing to stand in his way, other than a few stray cats which he quickly moved around to not get in a fight with them, from their sizes he would say that some of them had Kneazle blood in their veins. It did not take long before he reached Diagonal Alley safely.

He jumped and landed safely on all four paws on the ground. It seemed like cats really landed on their paws, most times. Harry used a moment to get control over his limbs before he was off again. With moves which came from having tried this many times before, Harry avoided the hands which made to grab him, with ease.

It was kingd of amusing to avoid getting caught. It was much like Harry hunting, only he doubted it would end up with him getting beaten should he get caught.

Why no one seemed to think of the possibility that he might be an animagus Harry did not know. One would think that people at least would think that far. Perhaps they would go crazy if they had to think that every animal could be an animagus. Harry knew for a fact that Ron was not yet over the fact that he had slept with a man for nearly three years. At least not the last time Harry had talked with him.

Slowing down when he came to the end of the alley Harry sneaked out with an elderly pair, who did not seem to notice him. Anyone else who saw him would hopefully think that he was the couple's familiar and therefore not bother him. Harry was glad that he had put a silencing charm on the bell around his neck or he would have gotten a lot more attention than he already did.

When the couple headed towards the floo Harry followed a lone wizard, who was heading towards the door which leaded to the muggle world. He jumped and followed the wizard closely to avoid getting stepped on by the people around him. Harry already knew how sensitive his tail was and he did not want anyone to step on it. With his luck the tail would probably break.

It did not take long to get into the muggle world. When the door to the Leaky Cauldron closed behind him Harry abandoned the wizard he had been following out. The less time he spend with wizards the less risk was there of him being found out.

He found a small niche to hide from sight and after having made sure that no on was around he transformed back to human. Harry looked down of himself and scowled. He could not walk around among muggles while being dressed in robes. Yesterday had been bad enough with all the attention he had been getting because of the way he was dressed. Today he wanted to be able to become invisible. The less people who noticed him the better it was.

Harry waved his hand over himself and smirked, when his robes shifted and changed from robes into muggle leggings and a dark green shirt. He might be a Gryffindor, but green was still his favourite colour. Besides, Tom had said it looked good on him and Harry knew his old lover well enough to trust his words. The clothes were a little too tight for his taste, but it was better than the hand-me-down clothes he had been forced to wear in his childhood.

Leaving the hiding place Harry soon began to regret changing his robes into normal clothes. He got looks from both girls and boys which he found hard to ignore. Harry frowned, wondering why they would whistle after him. Did they not know how annoying it was? Shaking his head he decided to ignore them. It was not like he wanted anything to do with them. No, he had much more important things to do.

Getting away from the crowd and into more empty streets Harry started pondering what he was supposed to do. He had no muggle money on him so he would not be able to take a taxi or a bus.

…

…Speaking of bus.

Grinning Harry raised his hand over his head, hoping his idea would work. The Knight bus came when one lit up their wands. Hopefully they would come even though he no longer had a wand. All he had to do was to make a little light.

Pointing towards the sky Harry held his breath while his finger started glowing, not sure if it was going to work or not. At least he could say he had tried. Perhaps he could conjure some muggle money. It was illegal but it would not stop him from trying. The things he had planned in to do were far from legal. He could look through fingers with himself in cases like this.

The purple triple-decker bus, known as the Knight Bus appeared in front of him. Harry stuffed his hand into his pocket as if he was putting his wand in it. It was best not to let people in this time know that he could do wandless magic. It would rise to many questions and Harry doubted it would take long before the rumours reached someone he wanted to keep a distance to.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, we assist stranded wizards and witches. My name is Stan Shunpike, and you are?"

"Evan James." Harry knew it was not smart to use that name but he doubted anyone would ever connect the dots and see that Evan James and Harry Potter was one and the same person. But the risk of him messing something up was smaller than if he used any other names. "Welcome Mr. James. Just step in and tell Ernie here where you want to go."

Harry stepped into the bus and nodded to the driver. "Privet Drive number two. And no thank you, I think I will do without cacao." He handed the money over and sat down on one of the seat. Remembering the last time he had driven with the bus Harry held on. He had no wish about flying through the bus as he had done so many other times.

The drive to Privet Drive was short, or perhaps it only felt like that because of the way Ernie was driving. No matter what Harry was relieved once he had both feet placed on solid ground. The bus disappeared after he had stepped out of the door but Harry paid it no mind.

Privet Drive looked just like he remembered it. Actually, Harry could not remember it had ever changed. Some families moved away while new ones moved in but nothing about the houses or the whole street ever changed. All the houses looked identical, and if not because he had grown up he would not know where to go. Even to him the boring, boxy houses looked the same.

Taking a deep breathe Harry headed up to number four, while he wondered what his family's reaction would be when they saw him. He doubted it would be pleasant, at least not for them. He, on the other hand, would have all the fun he wanted.

He stopped in front of the door and took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. Unfortunately, it did not seem to work. Harry looked up and down the street but there was no one to see. It was a warm day which could be the reason to why there was no one around. Harry guessed they would rather stay inside where it was cool or be at the beach.

Not that he thought about it he had never been at the beach. That was definitely something he would have to do.

After ringing the bell and knocking on the door Harry waited. He could hear movement and voices from inside the house but the thick door muffled any sound.

Hearing footsteps Harry stepped a little away from the door. Whoever opened the door would without doubt not be pleased about seeing him. It annoyed him that he did not have his wand, it would have been a good way to scare his so called family into submission.

To his surprise it was Dudley who opened the door. Seeing that his cousin was still taller than him Harry scowled. At least he was no longer scared of his much bigger cousin. "We do not want to buy any- You are supposed to be dead!" Harry chuckled, not being able to stop himself from trying he decided to scare the other boy a little. "Buh."

Dudley paled, more than he had done upon seeing Harry. His cousin let out a high, girlish scream and ran into the house to hide, completely forgetting to close the door after him.

Harry shook his head. "Honestly Dudley, anyone could come in when you leave the door open like that. I guess I will just have to be a good cousin then and close the door after you. Of course only after I have let myself in."

Glancing around to make sure that no one had heard Dudley's scream Harry stepped inside and closed the door silently after him. Then he put up a ward which would make it impossible for prying eyes to see what was going on in the house and so that no sound would get out. He did not need Ms. Frigg to run to Dumbledore and tell the old goat what was going on. He would deal with Dumbledore when he deemed the time was right and not a moment before.

The car had been standing outside which meant his uncle would be home. At least it meant he would not have to wait for the man to get home from work. He did not worry about aunt Petunia, the woman rarely left the house, and especially not when her Dudders was still home. The world would go under if she was not there when her son got hungry.

Following the sound of Dudley's voice Harry found all three family members assembled in the living room. Even though over four years had passed since he last had seen any of the Dursleys they had not changed much. Vernon and Dudley had both gotten fatter, it did not seem like Dudley's diet was working, and aunt Petunia's hair seemed off somehow. Harry guessed she had started dying her hair to hide any grey hairs.

Then he realised that only a year had passed since they had last seen each other. All that time travel made him more confused than he usually was. He had changed a great deal more than any of them had. It would be a wonder if they actually recognised him; it was a big enough shock that Dudley had figured out who he was. Perhaps his cousin was smarter than Harry had thought he was.

Uncle Vernon was the first to notice Harry's presence, perhaps because Dudley was panicking and aunt Petunia was trying to calm her son down. "Who are you? What are you doing in my house and what have you done to my son? Are you another one of those disgusting freaks?" Harry raised an eyebrow, unimpressed by his uncle's rant. After having battled dark lords and much else he found it hard to be afraid of his muggle uncle. "Have you already forgotten about me? Dear Vernon you wound me, right here." Harry placed a hand over his heart, and tried not to laugh at his uncle's expression. "And to how I got in. your fat oaf of a son forgot to close the door so I simply decided to let myself in."

Vernon was faster than Harry had thought the fat man could be. Before Harry had even time to react his uncle was up from the sofa and hit him straight in the face. There was enough power in the punch to send him flying into a wall. When Harry hit the floor he felt blood running down his face and he could not breathe through his nose. It was probably broken but he would have to take care of it on a later time.

Anger replaced the surprise of being hit and Harry got up from the floor. "You know, Vernon, I actually considered letting you live since you are my family but your reaction has made me change my plans." Vernon paled and stepped back from Harry, watching him as if he did not believe his own eyes. "You...But...you...the old freak…dead…you."

Feeling anger Harry stepped towards his uncle. "You should not believe all what Dumbledore tells you, uncle. Trust me; I learned that the hard way." Vernon snapped out of the daze he had been in. "It does not matter what the old freak said. You cannot use your wand without getting expelled from that freak school of yours. You are nothing else than a weak freak."

Harry cut of his uncle with a laugh. "Do you not get it? Dumbledore tried to kill me and he failed. I am not going back to Hogwarts so it does not matter if I am expelled or not. They already believe that I am dead. And do you know what the best of it all is?" Harry grinned while his relatives grew paler for every word he said. "The ministry cannot trace wandless magic, which I have gotten pretty good at in the time I have been gone, if I shall say it myself."

As a proof Harry healed his broken nose with a flick of his wrist. He let the blood stay; liking the effect it was having on his relatives. "Now you listen up, we took you in out of the goodness of our hearts, we clothed you and feed you." Uncle Vernon was cut off by Harry's glare. "Goodness of your heart? Clothed me? Feed me? Dear uncle, I think it is time for me to make you take a look at the real world. It is not good for you to live in a fantasy world."

Harry watched with interest as his uncle's face first turned red and then purple, a sure telltale about the anger the man was working himself into. There had once been a time where Harry would have been reduced to a bundle on the floor, shaking in fear of what was about to come. But thought he still felt a weak tingle of fear it was no where what he had felt before.

Making sure that they all where able to see what he did Harry raised one hand. He knew he would be able to do magic without doing so but because his relatives were there he decided to do it so they could see. "From the day where I was left on your doorstep I have had nothing I could call my own. I got Dudley's hand-me-down's, which made me look like a kid from the streets. I got the leftovers you did not eat. I slept in a cupboard for bloody ten years. So please tell me, how did you take care of me? I had been better of in an orphanage."

He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself though it did not seem to work. "When I was a child I dreamed about how it would be to be a part of a family. My biggest wish was that you would let me be a part of this family, but that never happened." Harry smiled sadly. "But I found my own family, one who loved me for who I was and did not care about any titles. He loved me and I love him."

"That just proves what I have always said. Two guys being together are freakish boy."

"**Stupid muggle, how dare you. Tom was perfect, there was nothing freakish about him**." The television exploded, Dudley screamed in fright, and Harry breathed several times to get control over his feelings. Feeling slightly better Harry stepped towards his uncle, while his hand started glowing red. "Do you know what is so wonderful about being a wizard? There are so many different curses and hexes I can use on you and no muggle will ever have an idea of what happened to you."

Not wanting to listen to anymore of what the man had to say, Harry put up a silencing ward around him. At the same time he stunned his uncle so that the man would not have a chance to attack when Harry's attention was elsewhere. He saw the fear in the three muggles eyes and sighed. How Voldemort could find it in himself to torture muggles he would never understand. Perhaps he would ask him if he actually met the dark lord.

Harry shook his head focussing on the persons in front of him, while looking away from his uncle who stared at him with wide eyes, unable to move away from the floor where he lay.

"So, what is up, big D?" His cousin whimpered, trying to hide behind his mother. If not because of the seriousness Harry would have laughed. Dudley would never be able to hide behind aunt Petunia. The woman was too small and the boy was too big for that.

He raised his hand, ready to cast another curse, when he froze. Aunt Petunia was standing between him and Dudley the same way as his mother possible had done when Voldemort had come to kill him. Feeling a lump in his throat Harry swallowed several times but it did not seem to help. "Please stand aside, I will deal with you later."

Petunia shook her head; her eyes were shining from tears though she was trying to hold them back. "No, please not my Dudley. Harry, I beg you. Do what you want with me but please leave Dudley alone. He is only a child."

"And what about me? You and Vernon showed no mercy when you put me into the cupboard. What with when Vernon beat me up for something which had nothing to do with me? You did not step in to help me. Instead you just watched from the side line. So please tell me _aunt_ why should I show any of you mercy?"

Harry's voice was cold as ice but he was truly interested. He wanted to hear what kind of excuses his aunt could come up with. "Vernon has always been violent. Lilly was the lucky of us. She got into Hogwarts, she got all our parents' attention, and she got married with a lord. I was not as pretty as she, so I had to take what I could. Vernon was willing to ignore my looks as long as I did what he meant a woman should do."

Petunia glanced at the still silent and unmoving Vernon before she returned her attention to him. "Who do you think Vernon reacted on when you were at that school? I protected you from the worst of his anger. I did not let any of you see what he did to me inside the bedroom. Your life would have been much worse had I not stepped in and gotten his anger directed away from you. But I could only do this much. I had to protect both of your from his anger and Dudley is my son."

Harry bit his lower lip, hesitating. What his aunt said could be true. There had been days where she had been wearing more makeup than normal, or where she wore long shirts even though it was hot outside. And he guessed he could understand why she chose Dudley over him. After all Dudley was her son while Harry was an unwanted burden in her eyes.

"I understand." Aunt Petunia and Dudley seemed relieved. "But it does not mean that I am willing to forgive you or let you get away without any form for punishment. There were plenty of ways of which you could have stopped this. And none of you did have to treat me as you did when Vernon was not home. Therefore you are not without fault to how my life was."

Harry raised his hand and sent a golden coloured curse at his aunt and cousin. When the curse hit them and nothing happened to them aunt Petunia looked at him, silently asking what he had done to them. "For a year you will both feel what I have felt in this house. No matter what you do, you will be hungry. No matter what you do, and no matter what doctor you see, you will hurt. Do not worry, there will be no broken bones, even though you will come to wish there was. You will both be tired and feel fear. When the year is over, you will hopefully have learned the lesson."

He lifted the silencing ward from Vernon, who luckily stayed silent. Harry wrinkled up his nose, it seemed like Vernon had lost control over his bladder before Harry had been able to stun him. The man was no longer the one whom he had feared for most of his life. "I have a special punishment planned for you Vernon. Aunt Petunia, you might want to contact Marge after I am finished with him. I am sure she knows what to do with a bastard like him. After all, she talked much about what she does to dogs with bad blood."

With that Harry send a blue spell at his uncle, watching as his childhood tormentor's started to twist and turn while the fat body started shrinking and changing. In a matter of minutes a big, beefy dog with a dark fur and hardly any neck and with small eyes stood there where Vernon had been just seconds before.

Harry stepped away from the dog and headed towards the door. "Since you are family I will suggest you to move out of the country. The Wizarding world is in war and I doubt it will take long before you muggles get to feel the consequences. By moving you will prolong the time you have left to live, if only a little."

He did not stay to hear if they said anything, but the sound of his aunt's cries followed Harry all the way out of the house. He had to get way before Ms. Frigg found out that something was going on.

Instead of calling the Knight Bus Harry slowly strolled down Privet Drive, which had been his home for so many years. He wanted a last look at the place which held so many childhood memories before he left for the last time. Harry did not plan on returning if he had anything to say in that matter.

**Next: Harry visits he parents' graves and Harry meet someone who might be an ally.**

**Until next time**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Still not mine.**

**Beta: ****angelhitomie**

It did not take long for Harry to realise that London was too far away for him to walk all the way. And he did still not have any muggle money to hire a cab or to take the bus.

Therefore he once again found himself being one of the Knight Bus' passengers, clutching to his seat as if his life depended on it. For all Harry knew it actually did. Ernie had greeted him but did otherwise leave him alone, when Harry had made it clear that he was not in the mood to talk.

Through the whole ride Harry kept his head bowed, letting his fringe hide the scar on his forehead. A few other people were with him on the bus and Harry sat as far away from them as possible. He did not feel like talking with anyone for the time being. He had a feeling that he would hex the first one who disturbed him.

Harry was not sure if aunt Petunia would take his advice or not. Hopefully she would follow his advice and leave the country before it was too late. There was no love lost between them but she was family and Harry guessed that his mother would not have wanted such a fate for her only sister.

No matter what happened to her and Dudley from now on it would not be his responsibility.

In a way Harry could say he understood why Voldemort had decided to kill the Riddles but he could not see himself killing his own relatives. Whether he liked it or not they were still his family. Besides, they had been punished already. The curse on Dudley and aunt Petunia would stop having any effect on them after a year. Unfortunately Vernon would have to stay as a dog for the rest of his life unless they found someone who would lift the curse from him. And Harry seriously doubted they would contact any of his kind if they had anything to say in the matter. Besides, if Vernon stayed as a dog he would not be able to harm anyone the way he had done before.

In a better mood than he had been since he returned to his own time Harry stepped out of the Knight Bus, thankful to have solid ground under his feet once again.

As he entered the Leaky Cauldron again, it was this time as a human. Though Harry was still wary he needed information and he would not be able to get them if he was a cat. Therefore he would have to take the chance and hope that no one would recognise him. It was one of the good things he could think of; no one could possibly think that he was Harry Potter. Without his glasses and with long hair he looked less like his father. And as long as he kept his scar hidden from view no one would give him a second glance.

Trying to calm his nerves Harry headed over to the counter. Last time he had seen the bartender, Tom had been a young man working for his mother. Harry wondered what had happened to her. People lived long lives in the Wizarding world so chances were that she was still alive. He had no plans of visiting her but it would still be nice to know how she was doing. After all she had been more than ready to help him or just listen when he needed someone to talk to.

Harry sat down on one of the free seats at the counter and patiently waited until Tom had time to come over to him. It gave him some time to think.

"What can I do for you?" Harry looked up, blinking several times to get his eyes to focus on the bartender in front of him. It seemed like it was not a good idea to stare into the air without blinking. "Ehm, yeah, I would like to know where I could get information and such. Does the Wizarding world have a library or something like that I can use?"

Tom looked at him as if trying to decide whether he was dangerous or not. Not used to this kind of reaction from the bartender Harry relaxed into the chair and tried to look as little a threat as possible.

"Unfortunately not. All libraries are in the homes of a wizard or witch. And unless you are a part of the family or a really good friend it is very unlikely that they will let you take a look at their books. My best advice would be for you to try the bookshop here in Diagon Alley, Flourish and Blotts is it called. If it is a rare book you are looking for you will have to find a collector and hope that he or she will let you buy the book."

Harry nodded and got up from the chair. "Thank you, I will try the book shop, but with my luck the information I am looking for will not be there."

"Believe me; anyone alive and unharmed in these days can consider themselves lucky."

"What do you mean?"

He had been about to leave but sat back on the chair. "What do you mean?" He asked again, when the bartender did not answer him the first time. "Are you a muggleborn?"

"Muggle raised, but I have been away for some time."

"You must have been far away if you have not heard any news." Harry smiled. "You can say that."

He had not been far away, just over fifty years into the past.

"Ever since Dumbledore had to kill Potter because the Boy Who Lived had turned dark You Know Who has attacked far more people than usual- Families have disappeared, people have been murdered and homes have been burned down to the ground. Neither muggle nor wizard is safe anymore. My guess is that You Know Who is angry because Dumbledore killed the betrayer."

"Do you really believe that?"

Apparently Harry had spoken louder than he had intended to do. When the sentence left his mouth he felt several pair of eyes on him.

"What, do you perhaps have another idea?" The one who spoke was a middle aged wizard who sat a little away from Harry, surrounded by his friends. "Yes, I have. My guess is that Vo- You Know Who has decided to act because he has no reason to hide anymore now when the ministry has realised that the dark lord is really back. Even though I have been away I know for a fact that Potter tried to tell you for a whole year."

It felt weird to talk about himself in third person but Harry knew it was best to do so. He doubted that it would go well if they knew who he really was.

"Honestly Volde- I mean You Know Who killed Potter's parents. What reason should Potter have had to join that mad man? I wish the Wizarding world's people would try and use their brains, if only a little. You have changed opinion of the boy ever since he first entered the Wizarding world. Make a decision and stick to it. And do not believe everything the Daily Prophet writes. Most of the times it is nothing else than bullshit."

Knowing it would be best to get out of there before things got ugly Harry got up from the chair. "It was nice to meet you lot, but I have better things to do than listen to you talk bad about a dead person." With that he left the Leaky Cauldron, not noticing the pair of eyes which had been watching him from the moment he had stepped into the pub.

Harry breathed out in relief when he stepped into Diagon Alley which was crowded despite the late time. It was easier to breathe now where he did not have all those eyes on him anymore. Luckily none of them had decided to follow him. Harry did not want more attention than he had already gotten. He was supposed to stay hidden until it was time for him to take of the problem called Dumbledore.

Harry doubted very much that people had listened to his words but hopefully a few of them would think over what he had said. It would help him, even if only a little, if not all people followed Dumbledore like mindless sheep.

Deciding not to waste more time than he had already done, Harry headed towards Flourish and Blotts. Information about his parents' graves would probably be in a book. Why he had not thought of that before now Harry did not know. In the muggle world people wrote a countless amount of books about famous people. Why should the Wizarding world be any different?

Flourish and Blotts was filled with people, apparently not all had finished their school shopping. Or perhaps those were the people smart enough to wait until most people were done. Why he could not have done so, Harry was not sure. For some reason or another, the Weasleys had always insisted that they went when the letters from Hogwarts arrived.

Harry moved through the shop while avoiding walking into people. He wanted to get over with this as fast as possible. The less time he spend with people the lower was the risk of being recognised.

Without looking up Harry made his way to the counter where the shopkeeper stood. "Excuse me, madam?" The shopkeeper, an elderly witch, looked at him with a tired look in her eyes. "Yes, what can I help you with?"

"I would like to see the books you have about Harry Potter and the night he became the Boy Who Lived."

"Fifth shelf on left hand, look at the bottom. We have already thrown out a lot of those books, so you are lucky. The owner has decided that next week the rest of them about He Who Betrayed Us shall be removed."

Harry thanked the witch before he followed her directions. The shelf was located in the back of the shop where the less popular books were placed. Seeing the amount of books there were shocked Harry. And the shopkeeper had said that they had already gotten rid of most of the books.

Sitting on the floor Harry started taking the books out, look through them and put them back on their places. He knew he would eventually have to buy one of the books but he refused to buy one which did not have the information that he needed.

It amazed him to see how many books had been written about him. But from where he sat it seemed like most of them had been written after his supposed betrayal and Harry found himself unable to hold a scowl back. These people knew absolutely nothing about him and yet they thought they could judge him. Harry noted that a few of the books had pictures of the Dursleys in them though no one had been able to get a comment from his relatives.

Perhaps the books' authors had decided that it would not give a good picture of muggles if they had interviewed his family. Harry laughed softly when he thought of Vernon's reaction if he had found out that wizards wanted to interview him. He would probably be more than happy to tell what a freak Harry had been and all the problems he had caused them. On the other hand he found it very doubtful that the Dursleys would want to deal with what they saw as freaks.

Reading the interviews with his former friends hurt more than he had thought it would, but it gave Harry some useful information also. He had not known that Ron and Hermione now were an item. At least he now had an idea about who he could not trust. Some of them he was not so sure about but he decided to keep a distance to them no matter what.

Looking through the books Harry noted that none of them had an interview with Lupin. One would think that they wanted to hear his thoughts about the whole thing, since he had been Harry's professor for a year but also best friends with James Potter. Perhaps it was because he was a werewolf and therefore nothing else than a beast in the eyes of the Wizarding world.

Several of the professors had also been interviewed and so were the students of Hogwarts. To his surprise neither professor Snape nor any of the Slytherins had actually said much, if anything at all. On would think that they would take the first chance to dirty his memory.

Finding what he needed Harry took the book and left the back of the shop. Without a single word he paid for the book and left the shop.

Never did Harry or anyone else notice the person who had been watching and following him since he first spoke up in the Leaky Cauldron.

**)00(**

Severus strode away from the apparating point with his black cloak billowing behind him. He had had to leave in the middle of an Order meeting because he had been called. It had only taken a glance at the headmaster to let the man understand what was happening and he had been dismissed. The old goat trusted him to bring back whatever news he might get when he was with Voldemort and the death eaters.

No that he actually planned on doing so; the headmaster had never done anything to gain his trust.

In his school years Dumbledore had looked through fingers with every prank the marauders had played on him. Even with the werewolf incident, which Severus called it, had the headmaster had not done anything else than give them a slap over the fingers and told them not to do so again.

He had a long time ago realised that it had not been Lupin's fault. After the incident Severus had studied several books until he had come to the conclusion that Lupin had not been at fault, since he had been unable to control himself. It had been Black's fault. But that did not mean that he would ever like Lupin or any other werewolf.

Dumbledore had promised that Lily and her son would be safe when Severus had come to him and told him that Voldemort knew of the prophecy. The next thing Severus heard was that both Potters were dead and though Harry had survived, he had disappeared from the Wizarding world.

Dumbledore had ensured him that Potter's son was safe wherever he was and Severus had chosen to trust the man. It was one of the many mistakes Severus had made through his life. When Lily's son finally had arrived to Hogwarts, Severus had already made his decision about staying away from the boy and only watch him from the shadows, which had been another mistake.

Lily had been a good friend of his and there had been a time where he had been in love with her. But after the incident in their fifth year she had started going out with Potter and he had become friends with Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy nee Black.

The friendship had led to more and though Draco was not his son by blood Severus knew that the boy saw him as a second father, and he was the Malfoy heir's godfather.

Severus was forced out of his thoughts when a great force slammed into him and held him up against the wall. "Hello, Snape." His body froze for a short moment before he got his muscles to relax. Still, he knew that the other man had noticed it. "Greyback, I doubt that our lord will be happy should he see this. And if I am late, you are going to tell him the reason why."

Greyback growled but let go of him none the less. "Have you brewed any of that Wolfbane of yours" Severus raised an eyebrow. Now where the werewolf had let go of him and there was some distance between them he felt much safer. "Why? I thought you wanted nothing to do with that disgusting poison, as you called it yourself."

"It is not for me, I want to know if Lupin gets his potion. He needs it. The wolf is violent because it is away from me."

Severus bit back a harsh comment. Though he did not understand werewolves it was common knowledge among the death eater what Greyback felt for Lupin. "No, I have not sent him any since he disappeared. Since I do not know where he is, it could be dangerous for him, should anyone see him get any kind of potions."

Though Greyback did not look happy the werewolf still nodded. "Very well. You might like to know that I have seen the Potter pup, it seems like Dumbledore was not as honest about the boy's death as we had thought he was."

Severus felt the blood draining from his face when his brain finally registered the werewolf's words.

Lily's son was alive.

He wanted to ask some questions but Greyback was already gone and he was about to be late for his meeting with Voldemort. Severus cursed the werewolf in his mind while he hurried down the corridor. Could that be the reason to why he was being called?

Deep in thoughts Severus stopped in front of the door to the dark lord's chambers. He knew better than to just walk in without knocking on first. Not only was there the risk of being crucioed, but one could never know what would meet them should they just walk in. Last time he had done so he had learned that Voldemort did not take all his lovers into the bedroom. At least they did not stay in there.

When answer came Severus stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

Lord Voldemort sat in an armchair in front of the lit fireplace. Nagini was nowhere to be seen and Severus guessed that the snake was out to harness Pettigrew or something equally unpleasant.

"My lord." Severus bowed even though he knew it was not necessary when there were only the two of them in the room. "Sit down, Severus." He crossed the floor and sat down on the chair in front of Voldemort's. A goblet with firewiskey flowed over to him and Severus took it but did not drink. They both knew he would be meeting the headmaster afterwards and the man would know if he had been drinking anything.

"My Lord," Severus spoke. "May I be so bold as to ask why you have called me? It would be nice to hear the reason to why I was called away from a meeting, before I had a chance to hear what ideas the almighty Dumbledore has made to damage the Wizarding world further than he has already done."

"Of course. I plan to take care of Dumbledore soon enough. The man only gets more powerful as time pass."

"But so do you, my lord."

Severus knew he could come far with flattery. It was how one survived in this world. Flatter those more powerful than yourself and step on those who were less. In-between everything was allowed.

Voldemort chuckled and sipped to his drink. "I want you to brew me a potion, Severus."

"Which one, if you do not mind that I ask, my lord?"

"I would be hard for you to make the potion if you did not know what it is, I guess." Voldemort seemed to be in deep thoughts and Severus knew better than to disturb the man while he was like this.

"An ally told me, that the one I thought was dead has returned. While I have people out looking for him, I want you to brew a potion which will restore my old look." Severus frowned. He could think of several potions to make one look better, but making a potion to restore his lord's old look would be harder than those potions.

"I will do my best my lord, but it will take me at least a week to gather all the ingredients, since some of them are really rare. Afterwards it will take me a month to brew the potion."

"Then I suggest you get started. Take some of the others and get them to gather those ingredients you need for the potion. The faster it is done, the better."

Severus nodded. He knew when he was being dismissed. "Yes my lord."

"And Severus, someone has told me, that the Potter boy has been spotted. You know that I will not be able to stop what has to happen."

The potion master closed his eyes for a short moment. "Of course my lord, if you will please excuse me, I will get started. As you said yourself; the faster it is done, the better."

**)00(**

Godric's Hollow was a village in the West Country of England. It was a pretty small village with a church, a post office, a pub and only a few shops. From what he had gathered it was one of the places where magical families had come to live alongside muggles. Rumours told that Godric Gryffindor had been born there, hence the village's name.

This was the place he would have grown up if Voldemort had not decided to go after him and had killed his family. Harry could not help but to wonder what it would have been like. He hoped that he would not have ended up like another Dudley. But perhaps he and Ron would have been friends from when they were small. He sincerely doubted he would have had much to do with Draco Malfoy, since Lily had been a muggleborn witch.

Harry stood in front of a statue, starring at it. From afar it had looked as an obelisk carved with names, but when he had come closer it had transformed into a statue of his parents and him. Whoever had made the statue had made a damn good job with the charms which hid the statue from muggles. Harry guessed it had been placed there shortly after his parents had been killed.

Looking away from the statue Harry continued walking. He had already seen the place where his parents had been murdered. The house was in ruins and he honestly doubted that there was anything left in there.

There were only a few people there when Harry found the graveyard. Ignoring the other visitors Harry walked past the rows, glancing over the different graves. He had never been there before and had absolutely no idea where he was supposed to find his parents' graves. It was mostly old people who were visiting. Harry guessed it was because all the others were out somewhere else and did not want to spend their time in a graveyard. In a way Harry could understand them. Why should they think of death when they could focus on life instead?

"Hey mum, hey dad." Harry crouched down in front of the two graves. "It is me, Harry, your son." He snorted. "Talking to dead people, I think it just proves that I really am crazy." He sighed and ran a hand through his long hair.

"I doubt you will believe how crazy my life has been. I have had a dark lord after me. Most of the Wizarding world hates me and everyone believes that I am dead. I think I am fate's favourite plaything." He spoke in a soft voice, and none of those near him would be able to hear what he was saying. Harry snorted. "Actually, I just came to say hello, I guess we are going to see each other soon enough. Then you can all yell at me as much as you want to."

Harry stopped talking and sat in silence. He was in deep thoughts as the hours went by. Visitors came and went without him paying any attention to them. The sun disappeared and the night crept forth. The cold went through skin and bone and Harry wrapped his arms around to keep the cold at bay.

He knew he should leave. Everyone had already left. Despite the cold and the shivering Harry felt strangely peaceful. He did not want to move although he knew it would not be safe for him to stay there all night.

Harry coughed and hid his mouth behind his hand, feeling his lungs ache, but only mildly this time. It seemed like he would not get a real fit right now which fitted him perfectly. He wanted as few of those as possible, but, unfortunately, it was not something he would be able to decide. When the coughing stopped and he held his hand up in the weak light from the moon and the stars over him Harry could see blood. He wiped the blood away from his mouth and cast a refreshing charm to get the taste to go away.

He banished the blood from his hand and smiled at the graves. "Although I never really got to know you, I still miss the both of you."

He sat in silence once again, not sure what he should do or say. He took forth the paper he had written on earlier this day.

_Visit the Dursleys._

_Visit mum and dad's graves._

_Kill Dumbledore. _

Once he left the cemetery there would only be one thing for him to do. He would have to find a place where he would be able to plan Dumbledore's demise. And then he would have to-

"Do not move." Harry froze when he felt a wand press into his neck. Feeling oddly calm he tilted his head to the side, trying to remember where he had heard the voice before. He knew it was someone he was supposed to remember. The question was if they held with Voldemort or Dumbledore.

"I have to say, that your disguise is miserable. If you really wanted to look like Harry, you should have done a better job. My pup had short hair and glasses." The growl in the voice sent shivers down his spine. When he felt the wand point starting to heat up Harry jumped to his feet. His hand reached for his own wand before he remembered that he no longer had one. He would have to get another one at some point. People would be suspicious if he did not have a wand on him when he was among other wizards.

Trying to decide whether he should flee or fight Harry stepped away from the wand and slowly turned around towards the voice. The person in front of him cast a lumos and Harry blinked several times to get his eyes used to the change of light. "Hello, Lupin."

His old Defence Against the Dark Arts professor had changed much since Harry last had seen him. He guessed it was because of the loss of Sirius, the last of the werewolf's friends from Hogwarts.

Harry was forced to duck so that the curse which would have hit him flew over his head. "What are you doing?"

"Bastard. How dare you do that, dishonouring the dead?"

"What are you talking about, it is me, Harry."

"Do not mock me. Do you not think that I would be able to tell a difference between the real Harry and a fake?" Rolling out of the way of another curse Harry jumped to his feet and sent a stunner towards the werewolf. He knew it would not be enough to actually stop the man but hopefully it would slow him down, if only a little.

"If that is the case, then you should know that I am me. Ask me about something only Harry would know." Harry sought shelter behind a gravestone and waited. He was not sure why he had not already fled. For all he knew Lupin could very well be one of them who had betrayed him. But still he could not help but hope that it would not be the case.

His old professor was silent for several moments and Harry started to worry that the man would not give him a chance to prove that it really was him. "What kind of creature did I use when I taught you the Patronus Charm?"

"A boggart, and before you ask, it turns into a dememtor." Harry had not even ended the sentence before he found himself in the arms of a very happy werewolf.

Harry was knocked of his feet by the bigger wizard and landed flat on his back with Lupin on top of him. The werewolf leaned forward and sniffed him and Harry did not dare to move. "It is really you. I thought you were dead. Harry James Potter. You will explain to me why you disappeared and why Dumbledore suddenly told that you had turned dark and he had to kill you."

The werewolf's tone made Harry wince. He had forgotten how the werewolf sometimes could be. "Of course I will tell you. But could we please find somewhere else to be? Anyone can see us here and it is not because it is exactly safe for me to be out where I can be seen. After all, I am supposed to be dead."

Lupin nodded and offered him a hand. Harry took it and let the werewolf help him up. He removed the dirt from his clothes with a wandless charm and followed Lupin out of the cemetery. "I have a place not far from here. We can walk over to there." Harry nodded and walked next to Lupin.

He knew the other wizard was watching him out of the corner of his eyes. After living together with a Slytherin Harry had learned to see the small signs. And Lupin was nowhere as subtle as Tom had been. Lupin was still holding his wand, ready to use it if it should prove to be necessary. It seemed like his old professor did not actually believe him. Or perhaps something had happened which had made professor Lupin more cautious than he was before.

They walked for quite a while and Harry started to wonder how long they would have to go before they would arrive to their destination. He did not dare to talk and he found himself unable to relax. Through Lupin had not done anything to him since the werewolf found out who he was, Harry did still not trust the professor. Lupin had yet to prove that he did not want to harm him.

Professor Lupin's place was an anonymous looking house. It was not big, but it was certainly bigger than Harry's cottage. It looked gloomy and dark but the garden was well-kept and the house did not seem like it was about to collapse.

Still, it was not a place he would have thought of looking for Remus. The werewolf did not look like one with money and the house was well cared for. It looked like a place a young pureblood wizard or witch would live if they were not the heir to the family money.

Without a word Lupin lead him inside. Harry hesitated in the door before he followed the older wizard inside. The door closed behind him and Harry shivered. He felt like he was back in Grimmauld Place and he waited for Sirius' mother to start screaming at them. When nothing happened he let out a breath he did not even know he had been holding.

Forcing his thoughts away from Sirius, Harry followed Lupin further into the house. The werewolf seemed more relaxed now and Harry wondered what the reason to that was. Was it because he felt safe inside the house? Harry had felt the wards when he had passed through them. They were powerful through they were nowhere near Hogwarts' wards. But there was no doubt in his mind that those wards would be able to hold any attacker at a bay, at least for some time.

Still not speaking Lupin lead him through the dark house until they reached what Harry assumed was the library. Old books were placed side by side with newer books. Harry wondered where Lupin had gotten those books from. Though he was no bookworm he knew that some of those books were valuable. Perhaps they had come together with the house.

Harry pushed the thoughts aside when Lupin took a seat on a sofa and Harry sat down next to him, but made sure to keep a little distance to the other wizard. He did still not have any idea of what Lupin was about to do. It was not even half an hour ago that the man had attacked him. Why Harry had not fled as soon as he got the chance he did not know. Perhaps it was because he wanted to be together with someone. He feared being alone as he had been when he had lived with the Dursleys. Even in the past he had not been alone, after all he had had Tom at that time.

As if sensing his discomfort Lupin conjured a pot and two cups for them. Without a word the werewolf poured something into the cups before offering Harry one of them. Harry nodded to the man as he took the cup and sniffed the content. It was hot chocolate, for some reason it did not surprise him that Lupin would give him that to drink. The man seemed to think that all problems in the world could be solved with chocolate.

If it only was so easy.

At Lupin's raised eyebrow Harry snorted. "If you had experienced the four years that I have gone through you would also be suspicious of most things."

"I think it would be a good thing if you explained what you are talking about. Why did Dumbledore declare you dark, and what happened? He said, he had killed you and yet you sit here in front of me, alive."

Harry sighed and took a sip of the cup. Something told him that this was going to be a long night. "Before I do so, will you please explain to me how you found me? Was it pure coincidence?"

"No, I saw you in the Leaky Cauldron. Do you know how lucky you are that no one attacked you or called the aurors for what you said? I had to knock a few of them out so they would not attack you. You are quite unpopular in these days. I decided to follow you to find out who you were. It was when you stood in front of your parents' graves that I decided to confront you."

He blushed at the thought that someone had been following him for the whole day. At the same time he cursed himself. He should have been more aware of his surroundings. Lupin was right he had been lucky.

It felt weird to be scolded by his old professor like this. Harry could not help but laugh. Not even Lupin's disapproving look could make Harry stop. When he finally stopped laughing Harry wiped a tear away. "What is it that you find so funny?"

"It is just, that it is a long time since someone has talked to me like that. Actually the last time was when…"

Harry closed his mouth, suddenly not feeling as happy as he had just a moment ago. Tom had been the one to reprimand him every time he had done something stupid. There had been times when Harry had wondered which one of them had been the adult.

"I guess I better get started on my explanation. You better make yourself comfortable because this is going to take some time."

**)00(**

As Harry had predicted it took him most of the night to tell Lupin what he had experienced. Unlike with Ragnok Harry did not keep much out of the story. Not even about his and Tom's relationship. He did not know how Lupin would react but Harry needed to tell it to someone and Lupin was the only one there.

The werewolf asked several questions but did otherwise not say anything. Now they both sat in silence again. Harry turned his head and looked out the window behind him. The sun was rising, spreading colours on the otherwise dark sky and he felt completely drained of energy. He felt like he could lie down and sleep for a week right now.

Lupin, seeming to read his thoughts, rose from his spot on the sofa and placed his cup on the small table in front of the sofa. Through Harry's story they had both drunk several cups to keep themselves awake and their thoughts clear.

"I suggest that we both get some sleep for now. When we wake up again, we can talk." Harry nodded and stood, uncertain of what he was supposed to do. He had no place to stay for the time being but Lupin solved that before Harry could even voice his problem. "There is a guestroom ready for use. Even though I do not get any visitors it is good to be prepared."

Harry nodded and followed Lupin upstairs where the room was. He bid the other wizard goodnight and let the door close behind him. Harry did not move until he heard Lupin go into what Harry supposed was the werewolf's room.

Only then did Harry allow the tension to leave his body and he fell down on the bed, not bothering to take off his clothes. To tired to care Harry closed his eyes and fell asleep promptly.

**Next: Lupin's reaction to Harry and Tom's relationship and also what has happened since Harry disappeared.**

**Okay, I need a little help to decide who from the dark side should find Harry. Please write your suggestions and perhaps also how you think it should happen. I plan on mixing the suggestions, if that is possible, so start writing.**

**Until next time. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Wow, fifty reviews for last chapter. If I had a heart it would be beating for your people. **

**Beta: angelhitomie**

Yet again Harry found himself awaking in a different bed and in a room which he did not recognise. He lay in silence and looked around. The dark green walls reminded him a little too much of the Slytherin common room, and Harry was out of the bed before he had finished the thought.

Feeling the urge to hit himself Harry banged his head into a wall, only to find out that no softening charm had been placed on it. Perhaps the people who had lived there before had not thought about their guests wanting to harm themselves and their non-existing brain by banging their heads into walls.

"Merlin, how could I be so stupid? One would think that living with a snake would teach me not to think like a Gryffindor." Harry stood as frozen, leaned up against the wall while he stared at the closest door. For all he knew a team of aurors could be waiting for him on the other side of the door.

Worrying his lower lip between his teeth Harry decided that if he was going down then he would do it in a way that people would not forget about anytime soon. After all, the Sorting Hat had placed him in the Gryffindor house for a reason.

Harry threw the door open and let himself fall to the floor to avoid any curses sent in his direction. He rolled out of the room and got on his feet again before anything could happen. He could feel the magic move under his skin and was ready to use it against whatever opponent he might be up against.

To his surprise no one was to be seen in the dark corridor. Other than a few portraits on the walls Harry was utterly alone. Slowly he stood straight; his body was still tense and ready to move should it be proved necessary.

Harry waited for several minutes and when nothing happened he finally decided to move. He closed the door to the room he had slept in before he ventured down the small corridor. He could feel the portraits follow him with their eyes, but thankfully none of them spoke. Harry was sure he would hex them if that had been the case and perhaps the portraits were smart enough to sense that.

In the morning he had been too tired to take a closer look at the house he was in. Now where he was looking after Lupin Harry used the time to take a closer look at what looked to be the old professor's home. Somehow the house reminded him of Grimmauld Place. Perhaps it was because of the Slytherin colours or the way that the portraits seemed to glare at him. Harry was sure that he had seen some of them in Grimmauld Place though it was so long ago that he was no longer sure.

Also the artefacts on the walls creped him out. Though they could not exactly be called dark there was no way that they could be categorised as light objects either. Whoever had lived in this house before Lupin certainly had chosen a very interesting way in decorating the house.

He found Lupin in the kitchen, working on what seemed to be a meal. Looking at the clock Harry found that he had slept most of the day away. Tom would have had his head if his lover had known that he had missed two meals. But Tom was not there to reprimand him and missing a meal or two did not make a big difference for Harry. When he had been living with the Dursleys they had often forgotten to feed him for days.

But it did not mean that he was not starving right now.

Instead of moving into the kitchen Harry stayed in the doorway and watched Lupin. The man had aged a great deal since the last time he had seen him. He had grey streaks in his hair and had a tired look in his eyes. He had lost a stone or two and his clothes hang loosely around him. But something had changed since last night. Lupin moved with a new energy and he seemed somewhat glad and well rested.

Harry wondered what could have made that change.

"Harry, sit down. The food will be ready in a moment." Lupin had not looked at him even once and Harry was pretty sure he had not made any noise. But werewolves had superhuman senses and Harry was sure that Lupin had heard him when he had left the room. After all he had not been the quietest person.

"Of course, professor." Harry sat down on one of the chairs. It felt weird not to be the one who was preparing the food. "Now Harry, I have not been your professor for years, if you want to you can call me Remus. Or at least Lupin. It is your choice."

"Yes pro- I mean Remus."

After the food had been placed on the table, Remus also sat down and they ate in silence. Harry slowly allowed himself to relax when nothing other than 'Please pass me the butter' and 'do you want more to drink?' was said. He felt more than saw Remus watching him out of the corner of his eye, as if the werewolf feared that he would disappear should he look away, if only for a short moment.

When they both were full Harry waved his hand and the food disappeared from sight with a soft pop. Lupin jumped in his seat and turned towards him with a strange glint in his eyes. "I believe that there is something you have forgotten to tell me." Harry flinched at the tone in Remus' voice. Truth to be told there were still several things which he had not told the other about, including his sickness. He did not want Remus to worry unnecessary about him and it was not like Remus would be able to do anything to help him anyway.

"Sorry, I have kind of gotten used to do it so I do no longer think about it. Besides, since Grindelwald broke my wand I have had to do it, or else I would not be able to do magic at all."

"But do you not understand how great it is? As for as I know only Dumbledore and Voldemort can use wandless magic as they want to. Of course there are others but they are only able to do small things and it drains them for a great deal of their magic. Therefore there are not many who do it."

Harry shrugged. "I still fail to see why it is so important. Tom was also able to do it. It is actually not so hard to do you just have to know what you want to do and then you let magic do the rest of the work."

"Speaking of this Tom, when do I get to meet him? Since neither James nor Sirius is here I guess it is up to me to give him a warning about what will happen should he ever hurt my pup."

Remus' words made him flinch while Harry silently cursed himself in his mind for bringing Tom up. "I am not going to see him again, ever."

"And why not? I know it had been over fifty years, and he will probably be too old for you but do you not think that he deserves an explanation?"

He snorted at the thought. "It is most likely that he will try to kill me should he see me. That is if his so-called friends do not do it for him."

"I am sure you are exaggerating. He will probably be more than happy to see you and to know that you are okay. Of course it will be a problem if he supports the light side or the dark, I doubt we will be lucky and he is a neutral wizard. And no matter what you should not tell him your real name before he has given a wizard oath that he will not tell anyone who you are."

"Remus, I will not let Tom know that I am alive."

"And why not, he deserves to-"

"I know what he deserves. But Tom Riddle is also Voldemort."

Had Remus been drinking it would probably have ended on the table. "Who did you say Tom was? Harry your jokes are just as bad as your father's were."

"Thanks, I think, but I am actually serious."

The grin disappeared from Remus' face. "And just for how long did you know that?"

"Since my second year."

No reason to blame yourself then. You did not know who he was when you adopted him but it does still not explain why you got together with him."

"Actually, I meant since my second year at Hogwarts."

Harry knew he should not have opened his mouth when he saw Remus' eyes turn amber, a sure sign that the wolf was close. "Harry James Potter, what in the world were you thinking? No, scratch that, I doubt that you were thinking at all. Of all the stupid things you could have done you just had to adopt the future dark lord without any thoughts of what danger you put yourself into. Not only that but you lived alone with him for four years. Just what were you thinking?"

Harry winced. He was convinced that he would never be able to hear with his left ear again. Somehow he had managed to find someone who could burst his eardrums faster than aunt Petunia would ever be able to do. "In the start I wanted to see if I could change the future. But when I came back nothing had changed. My parents and Sirius are still dead and Voldemort is still the dark lord." Remus slammed his hands down at the table. "Of course you can not change the future, Harry, it is impossible."

The werewolf took a deep breath and Harry knew he was going into lecturing mode. "It is impossible to change the past. Let us say you managed to kill Dumbledore in the past. Then the headmaster would not have been there to accidently send you back in time and you would therefore not have been able to kill him. So you would never have travelled back in the first place and therefore you would not have been able to kill him. A paradox would have been created."

"Oh, but what about time turners?"

Remus took yet another breath before he continued and Harry nearly regretted asking the werewolf. Had he know Remus would be nearly as bad as Hermione was when she was asked a question; he would never have opened his mouth. "I know you are thinking about third year, Sirius told me about what happened. Just so that you know it, it would have been impossible for you to change anything because it had already happened. But it does not mean that you do not have to be careful when you are using a time turner. After all, mistakes can happen."

Harry fall back in the chair and ran a hand through his hair while he thought about what Remus had just told him. "So no matter what I did, it would have been impossible for me to change the future?" Saying it did not make it any less real. But it sounded far worse than when he was just thinking it. "Yes, but if I have to guess I would say you were supposed to end back in time or else it would not have happened. So even if you had tried to, you would have been unable to change anything since it was supposed to happen. And technically it had already happened since it was a part of your past and therefore you were unable to change it."

A headache had already announced it arrival and Harry rubbed his eyes tiredly despite the fact that it was not long since he had awoken. "That is a lot of information to take in."

"Just like finding out that you are alive and Dumbledore is a fraud." Harry looked up and met the werewolf's eyes. "Yeah, I have been wondering something. How come that you are hiding here and has not ratted me out to someone?"

Remus huffed and crossed his arms. "After Dumbledore announces your death I decided to quit the Order. Since I know you, I found it hard to believe that you would change sides without having a good reason for doing so. And whatever reason you had would probably be good enough for me. And after the reading of Sirius' will there were only more reasons for me to go into hiding before someone could make me disappear on a mission."

By the mentioning of Sirius' will Harry peaked up. "What do you mean, Sirius had a will? Ragnok told me nothing about that."

"Sirius named you his heir. So, technically, your name is now Lord Harry James Potter-Black. Sirius made sure that the two of us and Tonks and her mother got his money. Other than that Sirius gave you all his properties but the house here went to me, so I had a place to be, where not even Dumbledore and the Order would be able to find me. It came in use sooner than I had thought it ever would."

Remus sipped of his coffee before he continued. "Since you had been declared dead by the Ministry your inheritance was split up between Tonks and me. You can get what I have gotten. What Sirius left me is more than enough for me." Harry shook his head. "No, thank you. I have what I need. It is better that you keep it all." Remus did not need to know that he did not count on living for long. Besides Remus would get what he owned as Harry Potter. There was no reason to get the things only to deliver them back again soon again.

"If that is what you want. But there is something which Sirius wanted you to have. So if you will please follow me."

Both got up from their seats and Harry followed Remus to the back of the house. Walking through a door they got into what seemed to be an unused garage. Harry raised an eyebrow. "But was Sirius' family not a dark pureblood family who hated everything about muggles?"

"Yes, but he had an uncle, or something like that, who disagreed with the rest of the family. He provided Sirius with the necessary things when Padfoot decided to run away from home. The house and most of the things in it belonged to that uncle."

Harry nodded while his eyes swept around. The garage was in need of a good cleaning and it was clear that no one had used the room in a long time. Dust covered the floor and Harry could see where Remus had walked. Packs were put on each other and towered over his head. Harry made sure to keep a good distance to them. He had a feeling that a light wind could make them fall and he did not fancy looking like a pancake just because he ended up under them.

Remus stopped in front of something big, covered by a cloth which had once been white, but years of dust had made it greyish. "I have no idea of how it ended here. Either it was done by magic or Sirius himself placed it here after making sure that I would get the house. He wanted you to have it."

Worrying his lower lip between his teeth Harry stepped closer, but then he hesitated. Knowing Sirius it could very well be a prank, but somehow Harry doubted that. Remus already knew what it was and would probably have warned him if it was something dangerous. On the other hand Remus was a marauder so Harry could easily end up with pink hair and Remus would not say a word because it was not harmful.

Deciding to take the risk Harry removed the cloth from whatever was under it. Dust filled the air and Harry banned it before his lungs could get irritated by it. He did not need Remus to know about his sickness.

Harry blinked several times, while he tried to figure if what he was seeing was true. There was no way that Sirius would have left him that. From what Harry understood it had been one of his godfather's most prized belongings.

Sirius' motorbike looked just like it had done in his dreams. Harry let his hands run lovingly over the machine, enjoying the feeling of it. "Does it still work?"

"As far as I know. Hagrid took good care of it until he delivered it back to Sirius. Padfoot did not have a chance to drive it again so I am not sure if it can still fly. But unless someone has done something to it you should be able to drive it without any problems. Sirius put a charm on it so one does not have to know how to drive as long as they know the password."

"And what is the password?"

"Fuck me sideway."

Harry did not even try to hold back his laughter. It was just like Sirius to choose something like that. He could see how Sirius would grin every time either he or someone else said the password.

Harry used his sleeve to wipe his tears away. Though he had gotten over Sirius' death, it still hurt to know that his godfather would not be there for him anymore. Seeing the motorbike and knowing that it was his now only made it more real for him.

A heavy hand landed on his shoulder and without thinking Harry turned around and embraced the werewolf. Remus said nothing but held him close with one hand placed on his back while the other hand ran through his hair. Harry closed his eyes and inhaled Remus' scent while he allowed his tears to run free.

It felt good to let the tears run free.

**)00(**

It had taken some time but at least he had gotten away from those aurors. Fenrir snorted at the thought. One would think that since they had been trained they would have done a better job with keeping track on him. On the other hand it did not really surprise him. Just because they could wave a wand around and produce a few sparks they thought that they were better than everyone else.

Shame that they forgot that not everyone was dependent on their magic. Being a werewolf allowed him to move faster than any of those wand wavers would ever dream of doing. Those who tried to come near him, he scared of by sneering at them, making sure that they saw his teeth.

Only a few people did not know who or what he was. Either they learned fast that he did not like their kind, or else they did not live for long. To survive in Knockturn Alley one had to have a reputation. Fenrir had made sure to make a name for himself when he was still young. With the super strength he got by being a werewolf it was quiet easy. It also helped that he was bigger and stronger than most of his own kind.

It did not take long before he reached the Inn where he had found the Potter brat. It had not been a coincidence that he had been there the morning when he had seen the whelp. He often used the Inn when he was meeting one of his informants or some of the other werewolves from his pack. It was one of the few places which were willing to serve his kind.

He saw that his scout had already returned from the mission he had sent him on. The boy was old enough to have graduated from Hogwarts had he been allowed to get an education, but he was already far bigger than any of his peers. Though he was nowhere as big as Fenrir was. He had found the boy when Tobias was still a pup and had decided to take the pup with him. Normally Fenrir did not care about those he or someone from the pack had not turned. But something had told him that the boy would be useful later on and he had been right. If he needed information it was Tobias he sent out.

Fenrir slit down in the seat in front of the boy. None of them spoke to each other as he ordered a butterbeer; Tobias already had the same drink standing in front of him but did not drink. When Fenrir's butterbeer arrived they both drank from it before they placed the cups back on the table. "It is good to see you again, pup."

"Alpha."

There was a great deal more people in the inn than the last time they had been there. Fenrir cast a silencing spell around them so no one would be able to listen to their conversation. "What do you have for me today, pup?"

Tobias cleared his throat before he brought forth several papers from one of his inner pockets. "As you ordered I have been searching for one Remus Lupin, he was turned by you when the two of you were young, am I right?" Fenrir nodded though it was not necessary. He wanted Tobias to hurry up but knew the pup would do it on his own pace. To tell him to hurry up would be of no use.

"Lupin was one of Albus Dumbledore's supporters. After the Wonder Boy's death Lupin disappeared." Fenrir bit back an angry retort. He already knew that, but it would not do to draw unnecessary attention to their little meeting. After all, he was not supposed to be there. Instead he should be out on the streets, looking for said Wonder Boy and someone named Evan James, who lord Voldemort seemed to know. Though he could not say if it was for the good or the bad.

"It seems like Lupin has been spotted several places, only to disappear again from view for a time. My guess is that he apparates around to make it harder for anyone to find him. A smart tactic, but there were a few holes in his plan." At that Fenrir peaked up. The way Tobias had talked until now had convinced him that the pup had yet to find anything useful. Perhaps he would soon be able to have his mate with him.

"Sources have told me that Lupin has been spotted many times in a village called Godric Hollow. It is the same place in which Mr. Potter's parents were buried. Further investigations show, that one of the Black family members lived in the same town. That person was close to Sirius Black, who was a friend of Lupin until Black was accused of betraying the Potters. It is very likely that Black gifted the house to Lupin, so that he would have a place to either live or hide, should it be proved necessary."

Fenrir did not even try to hide his grin. Tobias' news was much better than he had been hoping they would be. With the cup in his hand he leaned back in his chair. "Get the other members of the pack assembled. We are going to return a lost member to our home." Tobias bowed his head before he got up from his chair and disappeared out of the inn silently.

The werewolf alpha stayed for several minutes before he also left. He had a long travel before he would get to Godric's Hollow. As a wanted werewolf he could not just use the Knight Bus as he wanted to. Luckily he had other means to use to travel.

**)00(**

Draco found it hard to keep the sneer off of his face as he watched the students in the Great Hall. It had not been long since the school year started and he already longed for Christmas to come so that he would be able to return home. At least there he would be able to eat without being disgusted by his surroundings.

His silver coloured eyes swept over to the Gryffindor table and he found it hard to keep his face neutral. Even with the lions' table placed at the other end of the hall they could still manage to make him lose his appetite.

From where he sat it was not hard to point out the mudblood and the weasel, formerly known as Potter's two sidekicks. After Potter's dead the two of them had done as much as possible to make sure that everybody understood that they had been lead behind the light by Potter.

They disgusted him

The thought that they could just act like five years of friendship meant nothing to them said a lot about their personalities. Ever since Potter had turned down his offer of friendship Draco had watched the Golden Trio, as they had been called. He had seen how the weasel would abandon Potter because of jealousy. And he had seen how the mudblood would use her knowledge to knock Potter down every time the boy had tried to act on his own.

It would all have been different and better, if only Potter had been smart enough to accept his hand. Even if he had been sorted into Gryffindor, he would have learned that a Malfoy did not abandon their friends without a reason. And if something happened they took a gruesome revenge. Much like the one his great grandfather had made on the Weasleys once they had broken a betrothal between their two families. Even now they did not have the same money or status they had once had.

Draco looked away from the Gryffindor table and looked around at his house mates. None of the Slytherins believed that Potter should have been one of lord Voldemort's supporters. After all most of them had parents who were death eaters. And Draco knew for sure that his father would have told him, if Potter had joined their ranks.

So the question was, why had Dumbledore lied about why he had killed Potter? Draco frowned, while stabbing the meat on his plate. He hated it when something did not make sense to him. On the other hand, anything which had something to do with Potter was never simple. That much Draco had learned from attending the same school as the Wonder Boy.

Draco glanced up at the staff table were his godfather, Severus, sat. The potion master was glaring around and not even those from the staff dared to speak to him. The only one who seemed untouched was the headmaster. On the other hand, the headmaster was so thick that he would not notice it, if the ceiling in the great hall fell down around him. It was probably because of all these lemon drops he always ate. There was no way they could be good for his brain, nor his teeth.

Lately the potion master had seemed tired and paler than he normally did. From what he had heard the potion master had gotten a task from their master. No one knew what it was about, not even Draco, and he was not stupid enough to disturb his godfather.

Especially not after he had seen what had happened to the last student, a Gryffindor, who had dared to disturb him. The girl had yet to be let out of the hospital wing and rumours said that she was unable to be in the dark without starting to scream.

He wondered what Severus had done, but found it better not to ask. With the mood his godfather was in, the man could very much decide to show it on him instead of just telling it. It was much safer to keep a distance to the man until he was back to normal again.

"So Draco, has your father found out more about your great grandfather's mysterious friend?" Draco rolled his eyes at Blaise's word. Though the Italian boy was a Slytherin and a good friend of him, the other boy sometimes opened his mouth when it was supposed to stay closed.

"Well, Blaise, if you want to know, no one, not even my parents, have been able to find out much about this person. Though my great grandfather, Tiberius Castor Malfoy, has told me a lot of stories about an Evan James, I never imagined that he would have been a friend of both my great grandfather and our lord. From what my great grandfather has told me, Mr. James disappeared when Hogsmeade was attacked and no one has seen him since then. But apparently my great grandfather was very fond of this Evan."

Blaise could not help but snort. "But was your great grandfather not known as the crazy Malfoy?"

"Yes, he even went under another name, Mortimus, I believe it was, or something like that. His painting is in the manor. And whenever someone walks by he hexes them. No one knows how he is able to do it and even though my father has tried no one is able to remove his painting."

Draco smiled at the thought. When he had been a little child he had often visited his great grandfather's painting and listened to the stories the old man had had to tell. Many of them had included this Evan James whom lord Voldemort now was seeking for. From his great grandfather's stories Draco could conclude that Evan had been, and probably still was, a powerful wizard, but also a prankster, who had picked out professor Dumbledore as his victim. Some of the pranks he had pulled surpassed the Weasley twins'.

The blonde Malfoy heir glanced up towards the staff table once again. Black orbs met his own and he quickly looked away. He knew very well that his godfather could use Legillimes and it would not do for Severus to know what he had in his thought. After the last class today Draco planned to send his parents a letter, telling his parents that Severus again had forgotten to take care of himself.

Hopefully his godfather would forgive him for doing it. But no matter how important a task the dark lord had given him it was not as important as his own health.

Besides, it was quite fun to watch as both his mother and father took care of the great bat from Hogwarts' dungeons.

**)00(**

Harry hummed while he used the rag to remove the last dirt from the motorbike. He knew it would have been faster to do it by using a spell, but somehow it felt more right to do it the muggle way. He could easily imagine how Sirius would have spent hours taking care of the motorbike this way and it made Harry feel closer to his deceased godfather.

The motorbike was quite a sight once it had been cleaned, and Harry understood why Sirius had loved the thing so much. He wondered how it would be to fly on it. Harry knew that he had tried to fly on the motorbike before, but he had been nothing else than a babe at that time. And he was not sure if it would be as he imagined in his dreams.

The only thing he had to compare it with was flying with his broom and Harry was sure that it was two entirely different things. But, of course, he would not know for sure before he had actually tried it.

He heard the door open behind him and smiled. "Are you ready for lunch?" Remus' voice sounded behind him and Harry nodded. "Just give me a moment. I want to finish before I stop." He heard Remus move and knew that the werewolf had returned to the kitchen, where he would wait for Harry to turn up.

The week he had spent in company with Remus had been silent and peaceful. His former professor had asked questions in an attempt to understand what had happened to him and Harry had tried to answer the best he could.

Still, they had been unable to find out why he had ended up in the past. Three times he had been hit with the killing curse and neither times had it done as it was supposed to. Remus was driving himself mad while trying to find a way to solve this mystery.

Harry had yet to tell the werewolf about his sickness and it was a wonder that Remus had not found out about it by now. Harry guessed it was the use of the wolfsbane potion which had dulled Remus' werewolf's senses so much that he could not pick up the scent of blood as he was supposed to do.

He had not spent the week just working on cleaning Sirius' old motorbike. Harry had taken advantage of the library in the house. To defeat Dumbledore he needed as much help as possible. Remus had no idea of his plans and Harry planned on continuing like that. The werewolf would try to stop him, should he find out what Harry had planned.

Sighing Harry put the cloth away and got on his feet. He cast a lovingly glance at the motorbike. He could not wait to drive it, but knew he would have to be careful. And even if he did not get to use it he was sure that Remus would treasure the motorbike. At least he knew that it would not be thrown out.

Harry got into the house when an explosion sounded and Harry was knocked off of his feet. He landed flat on his back and blinked the tears away from his eyes. Knowing that it was going to bruise Harry got up on his feet. He stood leaned up against the wall and waited until he was sure that he would not fall before he started moving.

Harry's eyes widened when he realised that the explosion had come from the kitchen. Remus was no chef, but Harry doubted very much that even the werewolf could make something explode in the kitchen. On the other hand, with Remus he could not be entirely sure.

Cursing in his mind Harry ran down the corridor, willing his feet to move faster than they already did. He wanted to make sure that Remus had not been hurt. Pictures of a bleeding, or even a dead, Remus ran through his mind. Harry shuddered and suppressed the thoughts. He did not need that kind of thoughts to distract him right now.

Harry stopped in the same doorway as he had stood in a week ago, when he had watched Remus prepare food for them. The kitchen was unrecognisable. The wall far away from him had been blown to pieces and Harry could see the street outside. Luckily the wards around the house would stop bystanders from noticing what was going on. It meant he would have one less thing to worry about.

Adrenaline pumped through his veins while Harry's green eyes swept around, trying to localise Remus. Dust filled the air and mad it hard for him to see where Remus was.

"My, oh my. It seems like Remus has decided to keep a whelp hidden from me. I am sure that the dark lord will be more than happy to see you, Potter." Harry froze at the sound of Fenrir's voice. How the werewolf had found them he did not know. One thing he knew for sure, he and Remus had to get out of there before it turned ugly.

Tired of the dust in the air, which made it hard for him to see anything, Harry banished the dust. After all, Fenrir was a werewolf and did not have to use his eyes to know where Harry was. This way he did not have a disadvantage.

Harry's eyes widened, now where the dust was gone he was finally able to take in the whole situation. Unlike what he had thought Fenrir had not come alone. Behind were five other males, who, from what Harry could see, also were werewolves. Before Harry had time to think, he took a step backwards, as if to create a little distance between them.

Cursing himself in his mind Harry stopped and glared at the werewolves. "What are you doing here, Fenrir? As far as I was informed, none of you were invited for tea." Fenrir snorted. "Believe me, whelp. It is not you I have come for. But I guess you will be a nice bonus. Now tell me, where is Remus?"

Taking his eyes of the werewolves Harry's eyes swept around. Remus was supposed to be in the kitchen, yet Harry had yet to see him. He would have to hold them at bay until he knew where Remus was. Afterwards he could start planning. "So, how does it feel like to bow for the dark lord? I am sure that Voldemort likes his small lap dogs. Do you follow his every command?"

Harry only just managed to dodge the attack. "Feisty. If not because I was not into your kind, you would totally be my type." Fenrir, who had been the one to attack him, snarled. "All your wizards are the same. You are looking down on us just because we are werewolves." Harry shook his head while dodging another attack. "Actually I meant that you were too dumb to be someone I want to be together with."

He grinned and danced away from the now angry werewolf, while wondering how he was supposed to get out of this mess. Like vampires werewolves had an inhuman speed and strength. Which meant Harry would not be able to dodge those attacks for long. But unlike with the vampire he could not just produce some light and be done with it.

And as long as he did not know where Remus was, he would not dare to conjure some silver in fear of harming the werewolf more than he probably already had been. Harry knew that something had happened to Remus, or else the man would have come to his help long ago.

A kick aimed at his ribs sent him flying into a wall. Harry landed on the floor; much like a cat would, and coughed. His ribs were not broken, but at least one of them was cracked. And hand came out of nowhere and grabbed his arm. Harry was lifted up from the floor and held by Fenrir, who glared at him. The honey coloured eyes bleed into amber and Harry knew that the wolf inside the man was close.

"If I did not know better, I would say that you liked being this close to me. Sorry to say it, but you are still not my type." With that, Harry sank his teeth into the werewolf's arm. It was not enough to break the skin, but at least Fenrir did let go of him, though not in the manner which Harry had hoped for. Harry cursed his big mouth as he was hurled across the room. Ignoring his protesting ribs, Harry landed on his feet and took off. Staying in one place just increased the risk of getting caught, which he had no intention of.

Spotting Remus half buried under pieces of rubble Harry jumped away from Fenrir and stood between the two werewolves.

Fenrir raised his hand to hit him but froze when his eyes caught sight of Remus' still form behind Harry. Against his better judgement Harry turned around. He had yet to get a good view on how bad Remus was of.

Seeing the werewolf one thing was clear for Harry. If he wanted to get out of this mess he should not count on help from Remus. One of the pieces had knocked him out in the explosion and now Remus lay lifeless on the floor with blood dripping from a wound in his head.

Harry's eyes widened and he felt his knees go weak under him. Remus looked pale and from where Harry stood it did not look like the fallen werewolf was breathing. His breath got caught in his throat. The thought of losing the last connection to his parents was not something which Harry was willing to accept.

He had already lost enough people. His parents, Cedric, Sirius and Tom. Loosing Remus was not something which he was willing to accept without a fight.

Without a second thought Harry dived for Remus. He had not learned how to apparate but Harry figured that he should be able to do it. In worse case he would split them but in Harry's eyes it would be far better than being captured by the dark side. He had no wish about seeing Voldemort anytime soon. If Harry had the choice he would not see the dark lord at all.

Reaching Remus he hugged the fallen werewolf close to him and clenched his eyes close, hoping for the best.

Harry felt the familiar tug and allowed himself to smile. They would get away from there.

But before Harry could apparate away with Remus a hand grabbed him around his ankle and yanked him so his concentration broke.

Harry twisted around to kick whoever was holding him, but the person yanked him away from Remus and held him so his head was nearly touching the ground. "Well, little wizard. It seems like you are not getting away this time. I am sure that the dark lord will be pleased to know that we have found the Potter whelp."

Harry opened his mouth to protest or to yell, anything that might stop them from taking them to the dark lord, though he already knew that it would not do any difference. "Leave Remus alone, you son of a bitch, or I am going to kick your arse so hard that even your ancestors will hurt for a week."

Fenrir snorted. "As if a whelp like you will be able to do something to us. If it was not because that the dark lord wanted you, I would personally take care of you." A shiver ran down Harry's spine. He remembered the rumours of how Greyback usually turned small children. Though he was a little too old to belong in that category it did not seem to make any difference for the werewolf.

A spell hitting him from behind knocked Harry out before he had a chance to try and do anything with his magic.

**Review or I will let Dumbledore kill Voldemort and then Harry will have to marry Hagrid and the two of them will move into the Forbidden Forest and this story will end. **

**Next: The thing we have all been waiting for: The meeting between Voldemort and Harry. Will Voldemort find out the truth about Evan and Harry being one and same person? Find out in next chapter. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for all those reviews, it is a joy to read them. Keep up with it and I will update again as soon as possible. **

**Disclaimer: If I owned the Harry Potter books, there would have been a scene where Dumbledore offered Voldemort lemon drops. **

**Beta: ****angelhitomie**

Coming back to consciousness after being hit with a spell like he had been was not a pleasant experience. So much could Harry conclude when he woke. Keeping his eyes closed, so that he would not alert his captors, Harry tried to figure out what his situation was.

He had a pondering headache, undoubtedly from when he had been smashed into the wall. Moving slightly Harry could not help but wince as pain shot through the muscles in his back. He held no doubt that he was one big bruise there and was thankful that he was lying on his side.

Wherever he was, it was cold, it seemed like these people had never heard about a cleaning charm. Stones dig into his side and Harry winced. His best guess would be that he was in a basement or a dungeon. With the people who had captured him he found it very unlikely that he would be let out anytime soon.

Wanting to know where he was Harry opened his eyes and blinked several times to let his eyes get used to the bad lighting. He lay at a stone floor, facing a wall made of the same kind of stone from what he could feel. Harry took a deep breath, only to regret it when his ribs started hurting worse than they already did.

Needing to know where he was, Harry put his hands under him and used them to push himself up. His arms shook under his weight, but Harry managed to get himself up in a sitting position. Knowing better than to lean back against the wall behind him, Harry sat straight while his eyes slowly took in the room he was in.

Now where his eyes had gotten used to the dark he was able to see more of the room he was in. It was a small room and it was only because of Harry's lithe build body that he had been able to lay down without curling up. He had never thought he would find a reason to be glad that he was smaller than most people.

There was no window in the cell and the only light he got was the one which came from under the door. He could see shadows move but was unable to hear anything. Harry guessed that silencing wards had been placed on the door so he would not be able to hear what was going on, on the other side of the door.

Shifting a little Harry wondered what had happened to Remus. Obviously the werewolf was not in the cell with him. And it was pretty much impossible for anyone to hide in the small cell. It meant that he would have to find Remus before he would be able to leave.

Harry was not sure how long he had been waiting in the darkness before the door finally opened. He had both been dreading and waiting for this to happen. He had been drifting off several times, only to jerk awake when his back came in contact with the wall behind him.

Tears stung his eyes and Harry shielded his eyes from the light. "Mr. Potter, it is good to see that you are awake. I was starting to fear, that you would not awake before the dark lord arrived." Harry removed his arm and smiled at the sight of blonde hair until he remembered that he was not in the past. The sarcastically tone told him that much. "Hello, Lucius, I would offer you a seat but there is none and I honestly doubt that you will join me here on the floor."

He grinned tired up at Lucius. The man looked a lot like he had imagined what Abraxas would when he had been a grown up. There was next to no resemblance to Mortimus. Lucius' foot nudged his leg, as if the man wanted as little as possible to do with him. "Mr. Potter, you will do best to call me by my title. Until the dark lord arrives you are in my power. And I can assure you, that it will not be pleasant, should you annoy me enough."

Despite the stab of fear Harry looked the man straight into the eyes. "I have known far too many Malfoys through my life, Lucius. To stop myself from going crazy I will call you by your first name. You are free to call me Harry, if you want to." Lucius frowned. "The only Malfoys alive are my son, Narcissa and me."

Harry closed his eyes for a short moment. So Abraxas and Mortimus were really dead. He had already guessed that since there was no other way that Lucius would have been lord Malfoy if one of those had been alive. But still, it hurt to hear the words. And since Lucius did not know about his little time travel, the man had no reason to lie to him.

"Whatever makes your day, Lucius." By now Harry had thought he would be cursed, but Lucius just looked down at him with an unreadable look in his eyes. Harry shifted a little, wincing when his sore back came in contact with the wall behind him.

"You are hurt." Harry blinked in surprise at Lucius' words. If not because he knew better he would actually say that the blonde sounded worried. "Do not worry, I have had worse."

"Of course, I forgot. After all, you are the boy who lived." Harry rolled his eyes. "Yes, but last time I checked the Wizarding world had given me a name longer than that."

A pale hand grabbed his chin and Harry was forced to look up at Lucius. "Tell me, Potter. How come Dumbledore declared you a traitor when you and I both know that you are not one of the dark lord's followers?" Harry shrugged but leaned closer the best he could for Lucius' hand, as if he was about to share a big secret with the Malfoy lord. "My guess is that it is because of those damned lemon drops he is always eating, it cannot possible be healthy to eat the amount which he does. It has probably made him crazy."

Harry wrenched his chin free and smirked up at Lucius. "But, who am I to tell how the old goat's brain is working? I would get a headache worse than the one I already have if I should try and find a reason for everything he does." There was no way he was going to tell Lucius what he knew. Dumbledore had hated him ever since he had refused to send Tom back to the orphanage. It had only gotten worse when Grindelwald had set his eyes on him.

"Now where I have answered your question, do you mind telling me what happened to Remus?" Though he tried to, Harry could not keep the hope and worry out of his voice. The last time he had seen Remus the werewolf had been caught under rubbles. He wanted to know how damaged he was. Besides, it would be easier for him to free Remus if he knew where Remus was.

The sneer was back at Lucius' face and for a moment Harry feared that the man would not answer his question. He gathered his magic, ready to use it should it be necessary. Hopefully no spell had been placed on him to stop him from using wandless magic.

**)00(**

Lucius looked down at the hopeful face, unable to keep the sneer away from his face. The Potter boy was at the same age as Draco, only a few months younger than his own son. Lucius could easily see his son in Potter's place, something he would rather not think too much about. As a parent he did not want this for any child, but he would not put his own family at a risk by crossing the dark lord.

Such a thing never leaded to anything good.

His hand caressed his cane, in which he hid his wand, while he thought about what to do. Though the boy had been rude, he had answered his question. Perhaps it was fear that made him act like this, and the fact that he was just a Gryffindor. Lucius knew very well from his own time as a student at Hogwarts that the Gryffindors never thought before they acted and they always put up a brave front. It was one of the things which had made it so funny to annoy them as much as possible.

Looking closer Lucius realised that the Potter boy looked sick and in pain. In the weak light he seemed paler than was healthy and sweat ran down his brow. He held his body stiff and breathed shallow, as if it hurt when he took a deep breath.

Lucius stared silently down at the boy, who Severus had sworn to protect. To this day he did still not understand what Severus had seen in Potter's mother. Though muggles could be fascinating they were under them and therefore not worthy their attention. And the same thing could be said about muggleborns.

The only good thing which had came out of Lily and James Potter's marriage was that Severus had sought out Narcissa and him to help him heal his heart. In a way he supposed he should be thankful to the two Potters. If they had not found each other he would probably never had gotten Severus into his and his wife's bed.

Potter moved a little and Lucius focused his attention back on the boy who sat at his feet. The boy had changed a great deal since the last time he had seen him. No one was supposed to change that much unless magic and potions were involved. The hair could have been done with a lengthening charm and an eye correcting potion could easily have gotten rid of those horrid glasses he had been wearing.

But it did not explain why Potter looked so much like the man whom the dark lord had sent people out to look for. An Evan James.

Lucius frowned, knowing that he was about to have a breakthrough if only he could manage to make the ends meet. He knew that he was missing something, but perhaps it would show up later.

Realising that he had yet to answer the boy Lucius looked down and met his gaze without blinking. "Mr. Lupin is in the care of Greyback, who has shown a great interest in getting his mate back to where he belongs." There, now it could not be said that he was not telling anything. And should anyone look into his memories they would merely think that he was taunting the boy.

**)00(**

Harry paled at Lucius' words and a shiver ran down his back. It was too easy to imagine what kind of torture Remus would be submitting while being in Greyback's so-called care. And to make things worse, Remus had already been hurt. At least Harry knew that he would not have to worry about Remus when he fled. Greyback would have taken Remus with him to the pack. And though he hated the knowledge that he would be unable to do anything, not even he was stupid enough to run into a werewolf pack. It would be a suicide mission.

Hopefully Remus would be able to forgive him for not coming and save him.

"Wait, what do mean with mate?"

"Honestly Potter, I believe that Severus assigned you that assignment back in your third year. You were supposed to read about werewolves, if you had done so you would have known that Greyback will not harm Mr. Lupin since Mr. Lupin is his mate." Harry leaned back in relief, only to tense and jerk away when his back once again came in contact with the wall behind him.

"Potter, what is wrong with you?" If not because he knew better he would say that Lucius actually sounded worried about him. "As I said before, it is nothing to worry about. I was just roughed up a little before Voldemort's lapdogs managed to capture and knock me out." Again he saw the look in Lucius' eyes which he did not understand.

"Let me get this right, Remus is with Greyback, who claims to be his mate? And I am…wherever I am, waiting for Voldemort to arrive."

"And, once again, Potter, you are wrong." The low voice sent unpleasant shivers down his spine. Harry remembered another voice, warm and gentle, which had also been able to make him shiver, though it has been for an entirely other reason.

Harry watched as Lucius bowed to the dark lord, not kneeling in the dirt and kissing the hem of his robes as the Malfoy lord had done at Voldemort's return at the graveyard. "My lord, I did not expect you to arrive this soon or else I would have been in the entrance hall, ready to welcome you."

"Do not worry about it, your wife was there to inform me that you were down here, entertaining your other guest." The door to the cell was closed but the light was the same. Harry guessed it was Voldemort's work.

Pain flared through his scar and Harry could not help but flinch, still he looked at Voldemort without meeting his gaze. "Voldemort? Long time, no see, I guess." His tone was not as casual as his words. But he started to get worried when Voldemort did not respond, instead the dark lord stood very still and watched him through narrowed eyes. It was similar to the way Tom would stare at him, when his lover had wanted answers which he had not been willing to give. "Perhaps you have forgotten how this usually goes. The next thing you are supposed to do is to curse me or come with a threat or something like that. You are not loosing your touch, are you?"

Lucius' gasp was the only reaction to his words and Harry decided to push a little more and see what happened. "Let me guess, you have finally realised, that you will never be able to win against me, I have to say, Voldemort, I am proud of you. You have grown."

Truth to be told Harry was having fun by prodding the dark lord. He knew his punishment would soon follow and it would probably be worse than it already was. But he found it better to distract Voldemort; there was a less chance of the man using Legilimens on him.

Harry sighed. "This would have been much more fun if you started talking as well. It is much like insulting a wall, and believe me, I have tried it enough times to know what I am talking about." After all, he had had to talk to something when Hubert had been avoiding him and Ares had been out with a letter to Tom.

"Potter." Harry blinked in surprise. "It is a miracle, it actually speaks!" It was a wonder that he had not been cursed yet, but he guessed it was only a matter of time. Voldemort probably had something he wanted to know before he started the torture. And if he did not give the dark lord the answers he wanted the torture would probably start even sooner.

"How come you are still alive?" Harry tilted his head to the side without letting the two dark wizards out of his sight. "To be honest I have no idea. Next time you try to kill me, please try and use something else than the killing curse. I am getting tired of that one. Does the Wizarding world not have any imagination? I mean, muggles have thousand of ways to kill a person, while our kind mostly uses the Unforgiveables."

Harry snapped his mouth shut when a wand was pressed against his neck. "You will do well in showing respect for our master, Potter." He shot a glared at Lucius, who was the one with the wand pressed into his skin. "Voldemort may be your lord, Lucius, but he is not mine. I bow to no one."

"Tell me Potter. How come you, time after time, manage to cheat death?" Harry shifted a little and looked away from Voldemort and Lucius. "To be honest, I have no idea. I guess fate just hates me too much to just let me die. I mean, how many people get hit by the Avada Kedavra curse three times and still do not die? I think I am the most unlucky person ever."

Harry yelped in pain when a hand grabbed him around his neck and slammed him into the wall behind him. Not only did the impact with the wall hurt, but pain flared through his scar because of the closeness. "**Tell me, boy, who else than I has tried to kill you and how did you survive without consequences? Your mother is no longer around to protect you, how come you are not dead**?" Harry continued looking away so Voldemort would not get a chance to read his thoughts. "**Do not talk about my mother like that. She protected me with her life and she was a wonderful woman!**" Harry hissed at Voldemort, angry about the way he had talked about his mother, as if she was a no one. "**I have no idea about how I survived and I will not even try to figure it out. No consequences? You have no bloody idea if there were any consequences, if you knew what happened the last two times that curse has been sent at me; you would not dare to use it again.**"

He closed his mouth, determined not to say a word more to the man who had killed his parents. This was not his Tom. Tom was dead and Voldemort had taken his place instead. His lover was truly gone.

Finally Voldemort let go of him and Harry could breathe freely again. He took several deep breaths, desperate trying to fill his lungs with enough air. "You have changed, Potter." Harry leaned away from the dark lord, not caring that he was pressing his sore back against the wall. "I have no idea of what you are talking about." Voldemort hummed, but did not look away from him. "You remind me of one I once knew. Unfortunately, it is not enough to make me willing to spare your life."

Harry rolled his eyes. If not because he knew better, he would have thought that Voldemort was talking about Evan James. But from Remus he had learned that it was believed that he had been killed when Grindelwald had attacked Hogsmeade. Dumbledore was supposed to have seen him die by Grindelwald's wand just before the headmaster had killed the man.

It was typical for Dumbledore to take the honour for someone else's work. How he ever could have believed that man, Harry did not know. He knew for sure that he never would make that mistake again. His lungs began to ache and Harry's eyes widened. Though Voldemort was not Tom he had no intention about letting anyone witness this. Not when he had managed to hide it, even from professor Lupin.

Harry stared as Voldemort took forth his wand. Why the dark lord wanted to use it, Harry did not understand. After all he himself had made sure that Tom knew how to do wandless magic. But he had never thought that it would be used against him.

Voldemort lifted his hand, ready to cast the curse which would end Harry's life, when he seemingly froze, his eyes focused at Harry's chest. Wondering what it was Harry looked down, while trying to hold back the need to cough, and his eyes widened.

His necklace was hanging out in free view and Harry felt the blood drain from his face. "Where did you get that necklace from, Potter?" Harry flinched away from Voldemort, looking anywhere else than at the pair who was watching him. Lucius with confusion, and Voldemort with anger and, did he dare to say it? Hope.

"I-I bought it some years ago in a little shop in the muggle part of London, just before Christmas." Harry doubled over coughing, already feeling the blood work its way up his throat while his lungs cramped. Not caring about his two watchers Harry curled into a ball and wrapped his arms around his stomach. It felt like someone was stabbing knives into his lungs and then twisting the knives.

He twisted and fell to the floor, not caring about the pain from his back when the one in his lungs was much worse. He felt blood running down his chin.

**)00(**

Voldemort watched wordlessly, when Potter suddenly doubled over and started coughing. His eyes widened when the boy fell and at the same time removed the hand from his mouth. The palm of the hand was covered with blood and more of it was running down his chin.

He had a strong feeling of having seen this once before, though he could not remember when and where.

He saw Evan's face before his inner eye and groaned. It was true that the Potter boy did look like his past lover had done, but it did not mean anything. Evan would be far older by now, unless his lover had managed to find a way to keep his youthful look.

But it did still not explain how Potter had ended up with the necklace. Voldemort knew from his research that only two examples exist. And he had one of them, while the other was supposed to be with his Evan. Either Evan had given it away or someone had stolen the jewellery from his lover and then sold it to Potter. Voldemort hoped it was the later, though he was not really sure. He had a feeling, that if Evan had wanted to hide, he would go all the way to make sure that there was no way to connect him to his past. Even by parting with the necklace.

It seemed like Potter's fit was finally over, the boy lay gasping for air, like a fish on land, and slowly uncurled himself. Voldemort resisted the urge to massage his temples to get rid of his headache. Something was disturbing him and until he knew what it was, he knew the pain in his head would not go away.

Despite looking like he was still in pain Potter slowly got up in a sitting position, wheezing for air. He clutched his side and grimaced, as if he was in pain. Truth to be told the boy looked horrible. He was too pale, as if he had not been out under the sun for a long time. His body was shaking and it seemed like even the shallowest breath was paining him.

Potter opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to form the words before he finally succeed in doing so. "Lucius, I have a question. Is this the Malfoy manor?"

"As a matter of fact; yes it is. Greyback brought you here so we were sure that you would not be able to run away before the dark lord had arrived."

To Voldemort's surprise Potter started chuckling. The boy even had the nerve to smile when he lifted his head and looked him directly into his eyes. Voldemort found himself staring into startling green eyes. Much like the eyes of Evan. "You know, you should never try and keep the one who made the wards captured behind them. We always make sure that there is a way for us to get away."

Potter's body jerked and then his was gone. Voldemort starred at where the boy had been before he snapped his mouth shut. "Lucius, who was the last one who updated the wards around this place?" There was a small chance that Potter had managed to cheat the Malfoy lord and be the one who updated the wards, but Voldemort found it very unlikely. Where should the brat have gotten the knowledge to do so from?

"The last time was when my grandfather was the Malfoy lord. I believe the warder's name was Evan James, the same man as you have ordered us to look for."

Had Voldemort been anyone else he would probably have fainted. But dark lords did not faint. He knew that there was no way to update the wards around the manor without the head of the family knowing about it. Therefore there was no chance that the brat would be able to do so.

That left him with one option.

Evan James and Harry Potter was one and same person.

Voldemort suddenly felt weak in his knees and without a word he turned around and left the cell. He had to think this through before he did something stupid which he would later regret.

If Evan and Potter was the same person, he was not sure what he should do. All signs seemed to say that it was true. His lover and his fated nemesis were one person. If not because of the seriousness he would probably be laughing right now. The situation was as taken out of one of those paperbacks muggle women read. He knew because the matron at the orphanage had read those.

Evan had had the same sickness, he remembered seeing it before. But before he had had the chance to help his Evan, his lover had oblivated him. Voldemort smirked despite the situation. Evan would learn that no one tried to cheat him without paying the consequences. What those consequences would be, he had yet to decide.

"Find the boy and bring him to me, make sure that everyone knows that they are not allowed to harm him. He is mine."

"Yes my lord, I will inform the others so they will be able to help me with searching for him. Do not worry; I will make sure that he is brought back."

Voldemort apparated, not waiting to hear the rest of Lucius' talk. He had other and more important things to think about.

He ended up in his home, being the only one able to apparate in and out of the place. All the others would have to apparate outside the wards and only those he allowed could come through them. It was a necessity to make sure that he would not be attacked by the Order of the Phoenix while he was in his own home.

"**Master, what happened? I thought you went to kill the Potter boy, but you seem to be confused**." Voldemort stepped over the snake and let himself sink down in one of the armchairs. "**I think I saw Evan toady**."

"**How? Where is he? Do not hide him from me; I can smell him on you**." Voldemort froze and slowly turned in the chair so he looked directly at the snake. "**You can smell him on me? Are you sure**?"

If it had been possible Nagini would probably have snorted. "**Of course I am sure, stupid master. I have spent enough time with stupid master's mate to know when I smell him**."

Voldemort stared at the snake for a long time before he sighed and nodded. "**I guess you are right then, Nagini**."

"**Of curse I am, master, I am always right.**" Before he could come up with an answer Nagini had already left the room. Voldemort stared at the door which Nagini had disappeared though. "I should have known that they really were the same person. The resemblance between the two of them was too big for there to be any other explanation for this. I guess love really makes one blind, and the same thing can be said about hate."

Voldemort stared into the flames in his fireplace. "Next time we meet, the two of us are going to have a long talk, Mr. James, or is it Potter? You will not be allowed to get away, and I will get the answers I want."

**)00( **

Severus Snape wandered through the wards of Malfoy manor and breathed freely. He had just obtained the last ingredients he would need for the dark lord's potion. Since he had been allowed to order the other death eaters around, getting the things he needed had gone faster and easier than it normally would have, if he had been alone.

Why he would have to gather the ingredients from Malfoy manor instead of getting them sent to his home, he did not understand. But something told him that the Malfoy couple had something to do with it. They probably worried that he would overwork himself to get the potion finished. He was sure it had something to do with the letters Draco had sent home. He would have to have a talk with his godson about being a telltale.

A noise to his left made him spin around, wand already ready for use in his hand. There was no further noise, but he decided to investigate nonetheless. He left the path he had been following and walked through the rosebushes, hoping that this was worth his time.

A bunch of robes lay on the bush and when they moved Severus realised that there was a person wearing the robes. He moved closer, had his wand ready, and looked down at the person.

Harry bloody Potter grimaced when he saw him. "Thought I would have gone farther. Guess I cannot be that lucky." Potter's eyes rolled back and he went limp.

Severus stared down at the boy while he wondered about what to do. He could not just leave the boy where he was. Actually, he could but he doubted that Lily would ever forgive him if he left her boy where anyone could find him.

Taking him to Dumbledore or Voldemort was also out of question. Both were set on killing the boy which he could not allow since he had already spent so many years on keeping him safe, or at least trying to do so.

Glaring Severus went down and scooped the boy up in his arms, holding him much like he would do to a child. "Breathe a word to anyone and I will make your life a living hell." The only answer he got was a low mumble as Potter snuggled closer to him. Severus rolled his eyes. "It is the eyes, he has the same eyes as Lily. It is the only reason to why I am doing this. Do not believe it is because I have suddenly gone soft."

With a glance around to make sure that no one had seen them Severus apparated away. He held no doubt that Potter's disappearance would soon be noticed, if it had not already been. It only gave him more reason to get back home.

Severus apparated directly into his living room. "Flubby, come here." With a pop his old houseelf arrived. "Master Potion Master Snape, called, what can Flubby do for Master Potion Master Snape?" Severus rolled his eyes at the houseelf's words. Despite his many attempts the houseelf refused to call him by his name. "Prepare one of the guestrooms on the second floor, the closest one to my own room. Before you do that you will bring me potions from my stock so I can heal the brat."

Flubby disappeared with yet another pop and Severus strode over to the sofa which he placed the boy on before he took a step back to better look at the boy. To his shock Potter moaned in pain and Severus levitated him, so Potter was hovering a few inches over his sofa.

Lily's son had changed a great deal since Severus had last seen him, the day at Hogwarts where he had given the boy a detention for running into him in the corridor. He actually looked more like Lily now, which should not have been possible. Now where the brat had grown his hair long it did not look as uncontrollable as it had done before. It actually reminded him of Lily's long, red hair when they had both been children.

It also helped that the boy no longer wore his glasses. They had been too much like his father's. But Severus guessed he would have to get the boy a new pair, after all he knew that the brat was blind as a bat without his glasses.

Severus chuckled silently over his little joke. The bat of the dungeons compared the golden boy to a bat. What an irony.

Getting serious Severus directed his attention to his patient. As a potion master he had to learn the basis healer knowledge before he started his education. True, he was no where as good as madam Pomfrey, but he was better than nothing. And it was not like the boy was in any shape to protest against it.

With a wave of his wand Severus banished the boy's robes and it was only years long training which stopped him from showing any kind of reaction to what he saw. He left the boy's undergarments on; deciding to save the both of them from the embarrassing situation it would be should the boy wake up. Besides, he knew that Voldemort did not do rape. Killing and torture were okay, but no one raped anyone without being punished afterwards. Of course they could not go around and tell the whole world that they did not rape people, since they were supposed to be the so-called bad guys. But it did not make them less mad when they were blamed for such a crime.

Bruises covered the boy's chest and back. It looked like he had taken a good beating before he had managed to get away. How he had done so, Severus would have to ask him once the boy woke. Lucius should not have such a flaw in his wards. From what Severus knew the wards had been made by a well known ward master, called Evan James. Though the two of them worked with two entirely different things, he still admired the other man's work. If only his students would do such a thorough work.

Severus shook his head, turning his attention back to the boy in front of him. He would heal him and then find out what to do with him. It would not do for the dark lord or anyone else to find out that he housed the boy who lived. The consequences would be severe.

Luckily it was very doubtful that anyone would disturb him. Dumbledore had given him some time off from school since he had informed him that the dark lord had ordered him to make a potion for him. Of course Dumbledore had ordered him to make sure that he would do something to make the potion a failure. Severus had only nodded without really agreeing to anything. He was not crazy enough to actually do such a thing to one of his lord's potions.

Voldemort had promised him that no one would disturb him until the potion was finished. It meant he had less than three weeks on his own. It should be enough time to find out what he should do with Potter.

Sighing he raised out and took one of the vials Flubby had placed on the table in front of the sofa. The potion inside was pale purple and thick. It would make sure that the boy would stay asleep while Severus examined him. Far gentler than he normally would Severus got Potter's jaw open and poured the potion down his throat, while he massaged gently until Potter swallowed the potion.

When he was sure that the potion had been swallowed, Severus took his wand and cast a diagnostic spell he had seen Madam Pomfrey use countless of times. Many of these times had been in his school years, when he and the Marauders had had another run in. Luckily he had not been the only one who had ended at the hospital wing. A parchment appeared with a quill and it started writing. As soon as it was finished Severus took the parchment and started reading.

"A broken rib, bruises on both his back and chest and… what is that?" Severus frowned and turned his eyes towards the boy who was sleeping peacefully in the air. "You, Mister Potter, have a lot of things to answer when you awake. But before that happens I guess I better take care of the things I can fix." Luckily there had not been cast any Cruciatus curse.

A few hours later Severus was finally able to put his wand away, having finished healing the boy. At least he had done what he could, the bruises were gone and the rib was mending. Potter would have to be careful the next couple of days since he did not have any potion at hand to heal the bone fully. Perhaps it would be enough to keep the boy in bed, though he honestly doubted that.

There was still the problem with Potter's lungs. He would have to ask Potter about it when the boy woke. But until then he would make sure he got his rest. He was sure that Potter would be quite a handful to deal with once he awoke. Hopefully it would not be before sometime tomorrow, for Severus needed his sleep.

He spelled nightclothes on the boy, not wanting him to think too much about that his old professor had seen him nearly naked. Of course the pyjama was in Slytherin green with silver coloured buttons. If Potter was staying in his house he would be dressed as Severus wanted him to be.

With a sigh Severus scooped the boy up into his arms and walked upstairs. "You are far too light for a boy at your age. Do you not eat, Potter?" Of course the boy did not answer him, but it did not stop Severus from continuing. "When you awake tomorrow, Potter, you are going to wish that you stayed with the dark lord. That I am going to make sure of. And I am going to find out what is wrong with your lungs. No one in my house goes around sick, I will find a way to cure you, trust me on that."

He placed Potter in the bed in the room Flubby had prepared for the boy. He tugged Potter in, but only because he would not want Potter to wake up in the middle of the night because he was freezing. "It is incredible, that one as annoying as you can look so young and innocent when asleep."

After placing a spell, which would alert him when Potter awoke, Severus left the room and closed the door behind him. He would take a look at the potion he had inn his lab in the basement before he went to bed. Hopefully he would get a full night of sleep before the Potter brat woke him.

Again he wondered why he had not been informed about Potter's capture. Usually nothing was kept a secret from him. Perhaps it was because they knew that he would do something to save the boy from a certain death. It could also be because the dark lord had said that he would not be disturbed while working on the potion.

No matter what, Severus would make sure that Lily's child was protected. That much he could do for his old childhood friend. He was sure that she would be horrified had she known about Potter's state. Luckily she would never find out.

**So, how many people hate me after this chapter? Well, at least we now have someone to investigate on Harry's sickness. **

**Next: Harry wakes up and finds out where he is. Chaos is ensured. **

**Remember: Lots of reviews inspire me to write faster. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry about the delay, I had finals to do, a life to live and all that.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine**

The first thing Harry noticed, when he woke, was that the pain was gone. He breathed deeply, enjoying the fact that he could do so without feeling any pain. It seemed like someone had been nice and had healed his wounds while he was out.

Harry's eyes opened, he rolled out of the bed he had been sleeping in, and he landed at the floor with a thump. Harry stayed where he was flat on the floor in what looked to be a child's room, a boy's if he was not wrong. The walls were painted in a soft blue nuance and placed around the room were teddy bears and old toys, which looked like something his father would have played with as a child, had he been born into a muggle family.

Slowly in the hope that his host had not heard his awakening, despite the racket he had made, Harry sat up. In the room there was a fine mix of children toys and books for someone at his age. He remembered seeing some of those books in Dudley's second bedroom. His cousin had never bothered reading any of the books but it had not meant that Harry had not done so. He had just made sure that no one had known about his reading or the book might have been taken away from him.

Looking around Harry saw a window and from where he was it seemed to be the middle of the day. Wanting to know more about where he was Harry walked over to the window and leaned against the windowsill. Wherever he was the place certainly had a big garden. And though it was as neat as one of those at Privet Drive, it did not seem to have a single useless plant in it.

"And what, Mr. Potter, do you think you are doing out of bed?" Harry swirled around, his hand raised, and he was ready to cast a curse. Anyone knowing who he was in these days was a possible enemy. After all what he had been through he was not willing to take a risk and relax.

His surprise was even bigger when he saw professor Snape, Hogwarts' greasy git, the bat of the dungeons, and whatever other names the student had come up with through the time, standing in the doorway. Harry's body tensed and he was ready to either fight or flight. Severus Snape was probably one of the most dangerous people he could ever have run into. He had no idea if Snape was with Dumbledore or Voldemort, thought it truly did not make any difference. No matter who Snape would deliver him to, it would end with one thing, him being dead and gone. The only difference would be how long it would take and how painful it would be.

"So the Wizarding world's celebrity has finally decided to join the world of living." Harry stood tense, without bothering answering the man. Snape was no worse than the other people he had faced in the past. Professor Snape was dressed in muggle clothes, a sight Harry had never thought he would get to see and live to tell the tale. Of course he had yet to see if he would survive this, and it was not like he had anyone to tell this to.

"Snape, what are you doing here?"

"It is professor Snape to you, Mr. Potter, and since this is my house, I have every right to be here." Harry stared at the man. "How did I get here, and where exactly is here?" Snape ignored the questions and took a step in his direction. Harry walked backwards until his back came in contact with the wall. "Sit down on the bed, Potter, so I can take a look at you. It would be a shame if you destroyed all my hard work." Harry snorted and crossed his arms."Give me a good reason to trust you, professor. What stops you from handing me over to either Dumbledore or Voldemort? I am sure that either of your masters would reward you if you gave me to them."

Snape snorted. "I would watch my words, boy, as long as you are in my care you will do as I tell you to." Harry huffed, keeping a wary eye on his professor. He did not trust the man not to attack him should he take his eyes off of him for even a short moment. "It is not like you can force me to stay if I do not want to be here."

"Very well, if that is the way you want it to be. Flubby!"

A pop sounded an old, female houseelf appeared between the two wizards. "What can Flubby do for master potion master Snape?" Seeing Snape's face when the houseelf said his title made Harry snicker. Unfortunately it brought Snape's attention back to him. Harry knew that Snape's smirk would not mean anything good for him.

"Mr. Potter here is sick, but does not have enough brain to know what is good for him. I want you to get him back in bed and then make sure that he stays there." Flubby turned to look at him, and Harry now knew how the twins and Ron had felt, when Mrs. Wesley had been scolding them in the summer after second year, where they had freed him from the Dursleys. "Mr. Young wizard Potter stays in bed as master potion master Snape has ordered."

Flubby snapped her fingers and Harry suddenly found himself hovering in the air, lying flat on his back and unable to move. "What do you think you are doing? Put me down right now, or you are going to regret it, Snape. You have no right to keep me here when I do not want to!"

"And what will you do about it, Mr. Potter? Even if you could do wandless magic, it would not make a difference. It is one of the reasons to why houseelves are used when taking care of difficult patients at St. Mungo's. When ordered to, they can stop you from doing magic which would harm you. And right now it will only hurt you further, if you walk around instead of staying in a bed."

Harry rolled his eyes as he was placed back in the bed. One could always trust Snape to turn something into a lecture. In that way the potion master was much like Hermione.

Flubby pulled the covers up under his chin and then she popped out after making sure that there was nothing else which she needed to do. All the while she ignored Harry's glares and shouts about wanting to be let free.

Snape sat down in a comfortable looking chair, which was placed next to the bed Harry lay on. Harry, who was still unable to move, had stopped shouting and was now glaring at the man. Even now he did not know which side Snape belonged to. No matter what it was, he honestly doubted that it meant anything good for him. None of them spoke for a long time and Harry started to which, that Snape would say something, if only to break the silence in the room.

"Tell me, Potter, how did you get out of Malfoy manor? I know for a fact that the whole place has been warded so that no one should be able to get away without the current head of the family's permission, which I am sure that you did not have." Harry rolled his eyes and would have crossed his arms, if he had been able to move. "Actually, it was not that hard. I just had to make the wards see me as an unwanted guest and then they threw me out. Of course I had not thought that they would only throw me just outside the wards. They were made to send people much farther away, but I guess it is because they have not been updated for a while."

Realising his mistake Harry paled drastically. "What I meant was… you know… luck. It was pure luck that I got away just like all the other times I have faced Voldemort." Even to Harry it sounded plat and he knew that there was no chance that Snape would believe him.

He looked at Snape, who was watching him silently and had raised an eyebrow. Harry knew from potion classes that it was not a good sign. It usually ended with him having detention and Gryffindor having lost a handful of points.

"I suggest you start explaining yourself, Mr. Potter, because none of us are going to leave this room until you have told me what you meant with that. And if you do not tell me, I will simply use Legilimens to take a look at your memories." Harry sighed. He knew it was better to tell instead of letting Snape mind rape him. That way at least, he got to decide what the professor got to know.

"I want a Wizarding oath from you Snape, before I tell you anything." Harry squirmed when Snape leaned back in the chair, glaring at him down his nose. "And what is so important that you will need an oath from me? I am surprised that you even know about the oath, I supposed it was Granger who told you about it."

Harry refused to fall in the man's trap. He had had years to grow up. "I want an oath or I am not going to tell you anything." Now it was Snape's turn to roll his eyes. "Very well Mr. Potter. Though it would be easier to just use Legilimens, I will let you tell me what happened. That way I will not have to take a pain reliever after having been inside your empty head. But let me warn you, if this is another one of your pranks, you will be scrubbing cauldrons until the day you graduate." Snape paused, looking shortly away before returning his gaze to Harry. "I, Severus Tobias Snape, promise to keep the secret Harry James Potter is about to entrust me with, so mote it be."

"So mote it be. Professor Snape, please lean back in the chair and relax, you are in for one hell of a ride."

**)00(**

Gathering his things Draco left the classroom, closely followed by Pansy and Blaise. Grabbe and Goyle were being held back by the new professor so they could get information about their detention. Draco had lost count on how many the two boys had received until now.

Much had changed since Severus had left Hogwarts to carry out the dark lord's order. A new professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts had been found, sadly the person was from the ministry and was as bad, if not worse, than Umbridge had been. This time there was no Potter to take the blunt of the professor's anger so they all suffered under it.

Now where Severus was gone professor Slughorn, who was the new potion professor, acted as the head of the Slytherin house. From what Draco could see, and he knew that several of the other snakes shared his opinion, the professor was not fit for such a position. Severus had been hard on the students from the other houses in an attempt to set off the unfair treatment the other professors gave the Slytherin house. Whenever they had needed him, it be for a potion, for a talk or because one of the first years was homesick, Severus' door had always been open for them.

Professor Slughorn was nothing like Severus. The professor focussed on those with a talent for something, while all the others were left to their own device. It made Draco mad just to think about it.

"Well, look at this. Three small snakes, all on their own. Has your father failed another of You Know Who's missions, Malfoy? I bet he enjoys bowing for him and kiss the hem of his robes." The corridor was blocked by a group of Gryffindors. The Weasel, the mudblood, Thomas and Finnigan. He could see Longbottom standing a little away from the rest of the group. It was most likely that the chubby boy had been bullied by his own housemates into this. It would not have been a surprise for Draco if that had been the case.

"It is interesting to hear how much you seem to know about how to greet the dark lord. One could wonder which side of the war you actually belong to."

"Shut up, ferret boy. You will treat me with the respect I deserve, you slimy snake."

Draco started studying his fingernails, as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. "Well, I would love to stay and talk, but after Potter's death, it has just not been the same. Your insults are old and they lack of a certain quality. Just like the rest of your family."

"Take that back, ferret."

A wand was pointed at him, and Draco sneered. "Think very hard about it, Weasel, we should not have a repeat of second year, would we? How does it feels, Granger, to kiss someone who has had a slug in their mouth? You know what, do not answer, I do really not want to know."

Both the Weasel and the mudblood's face took a nice red nuance. Suddenly Draco and his group found three more wands at them, while Longbottom looked ready to faint. Draco actually hoped that the boy would do so. At least he would have an excuse for not participating when the other Gryffindors would ask why he had not joined them.

"I think it would be best for you all to run along now. You have all more lessons, and it would not do for you to be late. Now go on, this time I will not take points from either house." Professor Slughorn stood behind the Slytherins and Draco turned to face the potion professor. He trusted Pansy and Blaise to guard his back, though he doubted that any of the Gryffindors would dare to do anything now where a professor was there. "Hello professor Slughorn. The Gryffindors were so nice to show me their wands. You see, I am trying to figure out how the material used for the wand affects the wand."

Professor Slughorn got an interested glint in his eyes. "Perhaps you are thinking about a career as a wandmaker. If you want to I can put a good word in for you with Ollivander. As far as I know he does not have an apprentice right now."

Draco nodded, though he was not interested in being a wandmaker. "I am truly honoured that you would do so much for me. But perhaps it would be best to wait with contacting him until I am sure that this is what I want. After all, Ollivander is probably a very busy person."

"Sure thing, my boy. But when you have made your decision-"

"I will make sure that you will be the first who gets to know it, professor."

When professor Slughorn finally let them go, the Gryffindors had already left. The Slytherins, now joined by Grabbe and Goyle, hurried along to their next lesson, without making it look like they were actually running.

Their next lesson was History of Magic and since professor Binns was still teaching this class they were free to sit in the back and talk. It was unlikely that anyone would try and listen since most were already asleep or talking to each other. Still, Pansy used a notice me not charm, so that no one would pay them any attention.

"I cannot believe the Gryffindors. Ever since Potter died they have all been a pain in the arse. I doubt that it can be any worse." Luckily there was no Gryffindors in the class. And the Hufflepuffs were too scared to dare to listen to anything that they would say. That was one of the good parts about being pared with this class in History. At least they would be left alone to make the plans they wanted to. Draco sneered at the thought about having to deal with them in potion class. He imagined they would blow up more cauldrons than Longbottom normally did.

"So, has anyone found something useful about Evan James?" Blaise started, like them all wanting to know more about the person that their parents were looking for. Pansy cleared her throat and placed a paper at the desk, which Draco, Blaise and she were sharing. Grabbe and Goyle sat a little further down, already fast asleep. Draco would give them a briefing afterwards, telling them what they had been talking about.

"I got a letter from my mother, telling me that Evan James was a wardmaker, who lived in Hogsmeade over fifty years ago. There are no papers on him before he was hospitalized after being attacked by a muggle in London just before Christmas. Afterwards, aurors visited him at St. Mungo's. The papers made say he was an orphan from America, his parents were originally from Britain, but they had moved to the States where they were killed later on. He grew up with some muggle relatives, who were later killed when Grindelwald raided the town where he lived. He travelled back to Great Britain, where he adopted his only living relative, Tom Marvolo Riddle."

Draco frowned, thrumming his fingers at the desk. "I know that name. I heard about it a few years ago." It was Blaise who first remembered where the name was mentioned. "The Chamber of Secrets. Riddle was the one who caught the person who was supposed to have opened the door to the Chamber. His name is on one of the trophies in the trophy room."

The Malfoy heir frowned, tilting his head slightly as he tried to remember the trophy, he remembered seeing it now where Blaise said it. It was small and had been placed in the back, as if someone had been trying to hide it from view.

"Ow, what did you do that for?" Draco said, rubbing his arm where Pansy had hit him. The Slytherin girl huffed and crossed her arms. "That will teach you to listen when I am speaking. It was you who wanted to know more about this guy instead of waiting for the Christmas vacation to go home and ask your great grandfather's portrait."

Draco shrugged, knowing that the girl was not really offended. And if she was it was not something some chocolate could not help with. That, and some alone time with her boyfriend, Blaise, would probably get her in a good mood again. Draco shivered and promised himself to stay out of the dorm this night. The common room suddenly seemed a far better place to sleep than to lie all night and listen to the two lovers.

"As I was saying: Evan put wards up around several pureblood homes. Including Nott's and your home, Draco. Actually it seems like he was a close friend of your great grandfather." Draco nodded, that much he already knew from his talks with his great grandfather's portrait. "He died when Grindelwald attacked Hogsmeade, shortly before Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald. Well, we know he did not actually die though the professor claimed to have seen it. So, something happened that made him disappear from the face of earth for over fifty years."

Draco nodded slowly, while trying to figure out what had happened, and just how Dumbledore was involved. He could think of several scenarios. Mr. James had somehow managed to make Dumbledore believe that Grindelwald really killed him and had then disappeared. But that left the question: Why had he not been sighted before now? Or had he believed that it was safe for him to come forth from his hiding place since most of the people he knew were dead?

It could also be that professor Dumbledore was the guilty one. Since the headmaster had been a victim of Mr. James' pranks chances were that the headmaster had decided to take revenge on the other wizard. Perhaps professor Dumbledore had held Mr. James captured and hidden from view in all these years and he had finally managed to get out. But why had he then not sought out the dark lord?

So many questions, and they were starting to give him a headache, though Draco knew better than to show it. After all, a Slytherin never showed when he was in pain since his enemies would use it against him.

Pansy's gasp snapped Draco out of his thoughts. "What is it, have you found out what happened to him and why he disappeared?" He whispered frantically, as he and Blaise leaned closer, to make sure that no one would be able to hear what they talked about even though the spell was still in place. It did not hurt to be safe. Pansy just shook her head and Draco started to get irritated, and, did he dare to say it, nervous. She had the same maniac glint in her eyes as when she was shopping. Draco knew that it could not mean anything good, but he still wanted to know what was going on.

"He had the sweetest, little, black kitten."

Draco could not stop himself from rolling his eyes, though he made sure that the girl did not see it. Sometimes he wondered why he ever tried to understand girls. They were simply too strange and too scary for him.

**)00(**

"And now you probably understand why I cannot stay here." Harry said, finishing his story and crossing his arms. He had gotten the use of his limbs back while he talked and was now sitting up in the bed. Snape was watching him silently, and Harry fidget under the man's gaze.

"You want me to believe that you were hit with the killing curse, sent back in time, called yourself Evan James and adopted Tom Riddle, who really is the dark lord. Then you fought Grindelwald, killed him, only to be killed by Dumbledore, who was Grindelwald's lover and wanted revenge. Afterwards he took the honour for what you had done. Ad this time the killing curse sent you back to now."

When Snape said it like that, even Harry found it hard to believe his own story. "Yeah, it is pretty much what happened" When one of Snape's eyebrow lifted Harry knew that he was not going to like what the man was about to say. "You have still not explained me what is wrong with your lungs or why you are coughing blood up, though I believe it is the same thing."

Harry felt is face heat up. He had had a fit while telling his story. Of course it had been impossible to hide it from Snape, the man had eyes like a hawk, and Harry found out that the professor already knew that something was wrong with his lungs. How he had managed to do so Harry was not sure, but he suspected that Snape had examined him while he had been out last night.

"Truth to be told, I have no idea about what could be wrong. I started having coughing fits when I was sent back in time. Then after I ran into Grindelwald and Dumbledore in Knockturn Alley I started coughing up blood. And when I came back to my own time the fits became more frequent." Snape hummed and got a thoughtful look in his eyes. As if Harry was a, up to now, unknown potion ingredient and the professor was trying to figure out what potion he should be used in.

"I have a few theories about what could cause this. Of course you will have to stay here until I have gotten them tested and have found a cure." Harry, who was already halfway out of the bed, glared at his professor. "Did you listen to a single word of what I said? I have to save Remus before Greyback does anything to him and then I have to take care of Dumbledore."

A strong hand closed around his arm and yanked him back into the bed. "You are not going anywhere before I give you my permission and that will not happen before I have found a cure, after all I owe-" Snape cut himself off before he could say more. "What, you owe something to someone? Who is it and what is it you owe the person?"

Harry was unable to contain his curiosity and he did not even try. "Be careful, Potter, or Gryffindor might find itself in negative points when I return." Harry snorted, not letting himself feel threatened by the potion master. "And just why should I care? It is not like I am a student there any longer; I am after all supposed to be dead. On the other hand, when Binns can continue with teaching why should a student not be able to finish their education even though they are dead?"

For a moment Harry actually thought that he saw Snape smile. It was small and over so quickly that he was not sure if he really had seen it. Harry decided to ignore it for the time being. The thought of Snape smiling was simply too scary for him to think about.

The silence between them was broken with a pop when Flubby appeared in the room. "Master potion master Snape is needed in the lab. The strange smelling potion is making funny noises and Flubby is not sure if strange smelling potion should do that."

A glance at Snape's face showed him a short glimpse of annoyance before it disappeared. "Very well, I will check up on the potion, Flubby." Snape turned his attention back to him. "Potter, do you still have so little brain that you think you can try and run away as soon as I turn my back to you?" Though he knew it was childish, Harry did not answer but glared at his former professor. Snape actually looked tired but then he nodded. "Very well, Flubby, make sure that Potter is not able to leave the bed. He is sick and has still not accepted the fact that he has to listen to his elders."

Flubby's eyes grew impossible big as the houseelf turned around to look at the young wizard in the bed. "Young mister wizard should listen to master potion master Snape. Master potion master Snape can cure everything. Once Flubby's tummy really hurt until master potion master Snape gave Flubby sticky potion."

"That is enough, Flubby."

The houseelf bowed her head. "Flubby is sorry, master potion master Snape. Flubby will be good." The houseelf snapped her fingers and Harry felt his muscles go lax, as he fell back in the bed and was unable to move. "Remember Potter, even though you can do wandless magic, it will not help you when a houseelf uses its magic on it. It is a good thing that they would rather serve people or else they could easily gain control over the whole Wizarding world."

"No!" Harry tried to move, despite his muscles feeling like warm butter. "Release me, damn it. I mean it, Snape."

"I am sure you will, Potter." Snape said, getting up from the chair he had been sitting in. "And I will… come the morning." Harry glared at his old professor, silently wishing for a lighting to hit him where he was. Then again, if that happened, then Harry would be unable to get out of whatever spell the elf had put on him. "You can protest and yell as much as you want to, Potter, it will do you no good. No one knows that you are here, so no one will come to free you. You will stay here for as long as I wish for it. Consider this as the detention I promised you would get when this school year started."

Snape strode out of the room quickly, shutting the door behind him when he left. "Come back here Snape, you slimy git. Are you so afraid of facing me that you decide to run away! You have a big nose!"

**)00(**

The sound of Potter's voice followed him the whole way down to his laboratory, which was placed down in the basement. As soon as he closed the door behind him, all noises ended and Severus breathed out in relief.

Potter had been easier to handle, than he first had thought. Of course he could not expect it to be like this all the time. Soon the brat would probably manage to find a way out of the bed and sneak around in his house, sticking his nose into all the places where it would not be welcome. Luckily he could use Flubby to get the brat back in bed whenever that happened.

He himself had tried to be under the houseelf's care and the memories still made him wince. It had been one of the times where he had been so focused on a new potion that he had completely forgotten to take care of himself and had ignored everything Flubby had said to get his attention.

It had ended with Flubby calling Narcissa and Lucius over. Then he had been forced to stay in bed for a whole week and even then his two lovers had not left him alone for a long time. It had been frustrating to say it mildly. And Lucius and Narcissa still came by from time to time to make sure tat he was okay. Luckily their lord had given orders to that he should not be disturbed and he knew that his two lovers would obey the dark lord's orders.

With a sigh Severus turned his attention to the potion simmering in the big cauldron. The potion was delicate and therefore he only let Flubby watch it when there was something he could not postpone. She would inform him whenever the potion reached the stage where he would have to stir it or put in a new ingredient.

Severus knew better than to botch this potion. There was no way that Voldemort would let it go unpunished. It was one of the reasons to why he had not told the Potter brat what kind of potion he was working with. Knowing Potter the boy would probably put something in the potion which would destroy the whole progress, not caring if anything happened to those around him.

With a huff Severus sliced the dragon eyes and added them to the potion. He watched as the potion turned from purple to steel grey and then he breathed out. So far he had no problems with the potion but this was also the easy part. In later states the potion would demand his whole concentration. When it came to that he would let Flubby make sure that Potter did not get a chance to disturb him.

Making sure that everything was as it should be Severus left his laboratory. When he closed the door Severus realised that Potter had stopped yelling. The brat had probably managed to get himself into troubles despite the fact that Flubby had used her houseelf magic on the boy. Potter drew troubles to him like bees followed the scent of honey.

Marching upstairs he stopped outside his old childhood room. Why Flubby had prepared it when he had asked for a guestroom to be cleaned for the brat, he did not know. But it was closer to his own room which meant he would be able to hear it if Potter should get anymore of those fits.

A shiver ran down his spine as Severus remembered the fit Ha- Potter had had while telling him the story, which still sounded unbelievable to him. At first he had only been able to watch as Potter started coughing. When blood came out of the brat's mouths Severus' training kicked in. Unfortunately there had not been much he had been able to do to help the brat. All he really had done was trying to make sure he did not die and then he had tried to notice as much as possible about it. He would try to figure out what was wrong with Potter after dinner today. And when he had found out what was wrong he would find a cure for the brat.

He owed Lily to look after her son.

Opening the door Severus looked inside the room and nearly smiled. It seemed like Flubby's magic had stopped working but it did not matter for the time being. Potter was fast asleep and if Severus did not know better, he would have thought that the brat looked innocent. The boy still lay flat on his back with one arm thrown over his head while his covers lay at the floor. Severus was about to leave but decided otherwise. He walked silently into the room and stopped in front of the bed. Potter did not wake which did not surprise him. The boy had looked dead at his feet.

Severus took his sweet time watching the boy. Like last night he noted how much the boy had changed. The resemblance to his childhood tormentor, James Potter, had lessened. Now where the brat had let his hair grown it did not seem as unruly as it had once done, instead he found himself wondering if running his finger through it would give the same feeling as when he had done it to Lily.

He shook his head, as if hoping to make the thought disappear. There was no way he would ever do such a thing to Potter's boy.

But Lily's son, on the other hand.

Unable to resist any longer Severus bowed down and let his hand run through Potter's hair. As if he had been burned Severus moved his hand away. Though he hated to admit it, Potter's hair felt much like Lily's had done. He remembered how, when they had been younger, she had let him run his hands through her hair.

It was hard to believe, that Harry Potter and Evan James was one and same person. Ever since he learned about the wardmaker Severus had admired the man's work. He had hated the fact that he had died long before he had even been born. Those with their houses warded by Evan James had been safe from Voldemort's attack. But right now he was not sure if it was because Evan James had been good at his work or because the dark lord would not destroy the wards his past lover had made.

It was kind of amusing, in a very disturbing way, to know that the Potter boy had been bedded by the dark lord. The two enemies had been able to become lovers. Of course it would not be able to work in this time. Should Voldemort learn about this, Severus held no doubt that the dark lord would kill Potter. And, unfortunately, he could not let this happen, even if it betrayed everything which he believed in and the people he loved.

Severus glared down at the sleeping boy who seemed unable to cause the troubles he knew the brat usually made.

He glared as he bent down and pulled the cover up under Potter's chin. All the while he told himself it was because he did not want to deal with Potter having a cold.

… Somehow even he found it hard to believe it.

**)00(**

The hunters came back from yet another hunt. Remus stayed at the back, not wanting to join the rest of the pack in welcoming the hunters home.

He had awoken in the small village four days ago. To his shock he had found himself awakening in a fur covered bed which he shared with none other than Fenrir Greyback, the one who had changed him when they were both young.

At first he had been angry and had wanted to leave. But Remus had soon realised that it was not going to happen. When Fenrir was not following him, someone else from the pack was keeping an eye on him. They did not make it obvious but Remus had lived long enough in the Wizarding world to know when someone was watching him. He spent most of his time keeping an eye at the pups.

To his surprise Remus found that he actually liked his life with the pack. He did not just watch the pups, he also taught them what he knew about the Wizarding world, magic and which plant to use if they were wounded, and which they had to stay away from unless they wanted to suffer a slow and painful dead.

It was almost as being back at Hogwarts again, only better. Here his students knew about his little furry problem, and they did not care, mostly because they also had same problem, though it was not seen as a problem in the pack.

"Missed me?" The deep voice sounded close behind him and Remus whipped around, once again wishing he had his wand with him. Normally he would be able to rely on his werewolf strength should he ever be in a situation without his wand but that was not the case here. "Fenrir."

The much bigger werewolf grinned and engulfed him in an embrace. "I know you missed me." Remus could not help but roll his eyes. Ever since he had woken in Fenrir's bedroom the werewolf had been acting like a lovesick pup around him. He assumed it had something to do with the mate thing he had read about in books. Of course the books had been rather indistinct about the subject since no werewolf could nor would public books about their kind.

"I miss Harry." Fenrir's growl cut him off before he could say more. "What do you want with him? I am all you need, you should not think about another mate, especially not someone who is not a werewolf." Remus shook his head, ignoring the anger in Fenrir's voice. "I am not sure you understand. Harry is nothing like that. He is my … pup, I guess one would call him."

Understanding lit up in Fenrir's eyes and the older werewolf nodded slowly. "Since he is your pup, I will see what I can do, but I promise nothing. The dark lord is after the boy, and my pack follows him. It is the only way we will get to be equal with the wizard kind. But since it means so much to you, I will do whatever I can to make sure that your pup stays alive once the dark lord has won the war."

Remus rested his forehead against Fenrir's chest and closed his eyes with a sigh. He guessed it was the best he would get. Hopefully it would be enough to make sure that his pup would stay alive. Harry was the last one he had after Lily, James and Sirius. He was not sure he could survive loosing the pup.

**Do not worry, Voldemort will show in next chapter, I think. Also someone will visit Severus and Harry will be seen … Oh the suspense.**

**Please review, I will try and update faster now where school is over.**


	9. Chapter 9

"Damn it, Snape, how long do you think you will be able to keep me here!" Harry's voice was starting to get hoarse from all the yelling he had done the past four days. It seemed like whenever Snape got tired of his escape attempts, he would get the houseelf to transport him to the bed where Harry would lay until he regained control over his limbs once again.

When nothing happened Harry closed his mouth and started glaring at the door. He had regained the control over his body around fifteen minutes ago only to find the door locked. Meaning that he was unable to leave the room.

Of course he could just blast the door to pieces but something stopped Harry from doing so. Until now Snape's treatment of him had been decent, if on could call it that. Instead of locking him down in the basement the professor had let Harry have a room of his own. It could have something to do with the fact that Snape's potion laboratory was in the basement. But he also got three meals a day and he was not tortured. It was better than if he had stayed in Malfoy manor.

Harry stood from the bed and started walking around the room like a caged animal. He had already wasted four days in the house at Spinner's End. Through Flubby he had found out that this was Snape's childhood home. A little voice in the back of his head informed Harry that this room probably had been Snape's when the professor still had been a child. But no matter how hard Harry tried, he could simply not imagine Snape lying at the bed, reading one of his books. Or playing with the toy while one of his parents was keeping an eye on him.

He scowled and walked over to the window and leaned against the cool glass. Though he still had yet to get out of the house, he felt like he knew every single corner of the garden. One thing he had noted about the small garden was that there were several beds with lilies. The same flowers his mother had been named after. He wondered if it was a coincidence or if Snape had planted the flowers himself.

Right now he could see Flubby down in the garden, weeding out the beds. It seemed like a routine. Everyday Snape would be down working on his potion, Flubby doing housework and Harry would try and find a way out of this place when he thought that no one was paying attention to him. Until now he had had no success with that plan.

Harry knew they were in a muggle town since he had seen several people dressed in muggle clothes pass by. Strangely enough they did not seem to notice the houseelf tending the garden. Harry guessed that the wards around the place prevented them from seeing anything of a magical nature.

When Flubby looked up from what she had been doing Harry stood as frozen. Though he was doing nothing wrong this time, Harry could not help but feel like he had been caught red handed in doing something. He could not help but feel guilt over all the troubles he was giving the houseelf with all his escape attempts.

He stepped away from the window. At least he now knew why the houseelf had not reacted to his yelling. Snape had probably ordered Flubby outside while the potion master himself made use off the basement where the man would not be able to hear him.

Scowling Harry sat back at the bed, not knowing what to do. He had already tried reading the books but none of them had managed to catch his attention since he had read most of them in Dudley's second bedroom. Right now he was so bored that he was actually longing for some homework to work on. Since he did not have any of his schoolbooks with him any longer, Harry started to think.

He did still not know where Snape stood in the war. Apparently the professor was not loyal to anyone or else Harry guessed he would already have been handed over to either Dumbledore or Voldemort. But it did still not explain why the man would not let him leave. Snape seemed to want to heal him, but Harry could not figure out the reason to why and it was driving him mad.

Harry knew better than to ask Snape, he had already tried that tactic and it had not worked. The only reaction he had gotten was a raised eyebrow and an order to stop sticking his nose into places where it did not belong, or he might risk losing it.

After that Harry had decided not to touch the subject again. He knew Snape well enough to know that the man would make his threat real.

"So, you have finally decided to stop being hysterical." Snape drawled from behind him. "No, I simply decided to use my energy on something more useful." He did not even need to turn around to know that Snape had raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be? How to destroy my house without even using magic?"

Grinning he turned around and met the potion master's gaze. "I am planning Dumbledore's demise. My latest plan involves a dragon, the Russian mafia and an apple."

"I will not even ask what that plan is about. Now, sit down on the bed and take of your shirt, or shall I call Flubby again?"

Not wanting to be helpless while in his professor's presence, Harry did as he was told. He shivered slightly despite the temperature in the room when he sat down at the bed with a naked upper part of the body.

Harry sat perfectly still as Snape cast the diagnosis charm on him. The professor had already done so several times before, though Harry did not understand why. He seriously doubted that Snape would be able to find anything of importance. The charm had been cast too many times on him to let Harry get bothered by the tingling feeling which ran through his body. After all, it was nothing compared to the Cruciatus curse.

"Idiotic boy, did I not tell you to alert me when you had one of these fits?" Harry's head snapped up and he narrowed his eyes. "I was unable to do so."

"You mean you were too arrogant and thought that you would be able to deal with it on your own." Already getting tired of this discussion Harry shook his head. "No, I had the fit after you had made Flubby use houseelf magic on me. Even if I had wanted to, I would not have been able to call for help."

Snape got nearly as pale as a Malfoy while Harry talked though the man did not say a word. Harry grew silent and tilted his head to the side, trying to figure out what was wrong with the professor. "Professor Snape, is something wrong? Shall I call Flubby? I am sure she can bring you whatever potion you might be in need of." When the potion master still did not talk Harry started to get truly worried. It was the first time he saw the professor like this.

Whatever was wrong Snape seemed to mentally shake himself out of it. "Well Potter, I am sure that you will be happy to know that I now have to find another way to make sure that you do not run away while I am working on potions. Feel proud, Potter." Snape's voice sounded annoyed, but there was something in the voice which Harry could not define. If not because he knew better he would have said that Snape sounded worried.

"And why should you stop using Flubby? Not because I like the method, but it is not like anything happened." Harry was not about to tell how scared he had been when the fit had started and he had been unable to move. "Are you really that stupid, Potter? You could have been suffocated because you were unable to move. I will not allow you to die on my watch. It would damage my reputation as a potion master should I not be able to find a cure for you."

"Why bother? It is not like anyone would know it if I died, since no one knows that I am here."

Whatever Snape had been about to say was interrupted by a loud growling noise from Harry's stomach. Harry blushed and hugged himself while avoiding meeting Snape's gaze. "I guess it is time for lunch anyway, so you can consider yourself lucky, Potter. After lunch you will take some potion which I have made. It will be the first step in your cure. Be happy, you will be the first one I will test it on, and I will have to watch you closely to see what effects it might have on you."

A shiver ran down his spine and Harry was not sure what was worse. Being Snape's test person or having to spend more time with the snarky professor than he already had to.

"Are you coming, Potter, or do you really expect the food to be served while you are in your bed?" Harry hurried out of the room and followed Snape, making sure to keep a distance to the man. Though Snape had shown no intention of truly wanting to harm him this far, Harry knew better than to trust the man right away. He had had too many people to turn their backs to him for him to not be careful.

They arrived at the small kitchen. Well, it was supposed to be small but Harry guessed that Snape had used a charm to enlarge the whole place. There was no other way to explain how it all could fit into the small house. Harry was not surprised to see that the table was already laid for them. Small sandwiches were placed at a plate in the middle of the table, where both of them would be able to reach it. Having already tasted Flubby's food before Harry wondered how Snape managed to stay so thin when he had the houseelf to cook for him.

Without a word they took seat and started eating. From time to time Harry would glance at the professor only to look away when he saw that the man was still watching him with the thoughtful look in his black eyes.

All too soon they had finished their meal and Harry followed Snape into the living room. "Sit down, Potter." Keeping a wary eye at the professor Harry did as he was told and sat down at the sofa. Seemingly out of nowhere Snape brought forth a vial with a thick looking grey potion inside it. Harry already knew that it would not be a pleasant experience to drink the potion.

"This potion will not cure you; it will be the first step in what I hope will be the cure. With the little information you have given me, I will have to adjust the potion as time goes by, and just hope that it will progress in the right direction." Harry snatched the potion from Snape's hand. "Thanks, though I still think you are wasting your time. I am not planning on staying for so long." Snape looked afforded but Harry ignored it and drowned the potion instead.

The last drop hit his tongue and Harry let go of the vial as a burning feeling spread through his lungs. He yowled and curled into a small ball. Harry panted and pressed the root of his hands into his eyes. There was no way that he would let Snape see his tears.

Finally the pain disappeared and Harry could breathe freely once again. "Merlin, was what that? I though it was supposed to help me, not making the pain worse." Harry rasped as he glared at the dark clad man. "Potter, try for once and listen to what I tell you. If you had just waited a little you would have known what would happen, instead of rushing ahead without a second thought. The potion is meant to restore the destroyed cells. Just like Skele-grow re-grows a bone." Harry nodded; feeling tired he was unable to stop his eyes from dropping. "A side effect is that you will be tired, because even though with the potion your body still takes a lot of energy to heal yourself. And I will advise you not to use magic the next few days. Trust me; you will not like the consequences."

Harry knew he should yell at Snape for not telling him this sooner, but he was too tired.

**)00(**

Voldemort sat back in his chair and glared at the evil thing at his desk. Had he known that this much paperwork would follow with being a dark lord, he would have chosen something else. But it was mostly Dumbledore's fault. He had been willing to go through politic to get the changes he wanted but the old goat had shot down his every attempt.

Another reason to why he found it hard to concentrate on his work was Lucius Malfoy. Ever since he had forbidden anyone to go and see Severus while the potion master was brewing the potion, the two Malfoys had been a pain. They had taken turns in staying with him, so he rarely got a moment on his own, trying to make him change his orders. He had to admit that listening to Narcissa gossiping about the other pureblood families and talking about her latest shopping really got on his nerves. At least Lucius was better, if only a little, after all Voldemort could turn the man's voice out most of the time.

Four days had passed since Evan had disappeared from his life once again. At least this time he would not just give up and think of him as dead. He had a chance of finding his lost lover. Voldemort wanted answers and he would get them, one way or another.

He would show Evan, that no one ran from him. Once he had his lover with him, he would not let Evan leave him again. He would deal with the problem that Evan and Potter was one and the same person once he had made sure that his lover would not leave him again.

He had tried to get Lupin to tell him where Evan could be hiding, but nothing short of torture would get the wizard to open his mouth. Unfortunately Fenrir would not let him do so, and Voldemort honestly doubted that Evan would forgive him for harming the werewolf. So he would have to think of another way to get Evan's hiding place out of the wolf.

Thinking back at the encounter in Malfoy's dungeon, Voldemort frowned. He did not like that Evan had been coughing up blood. He remembered that he had seen this before, but Evan had managed to oblivate him before he had been able to do something. This time he would not let such a thing happen. Once Evan was with him he would find a cure for him. He would get Severus to make some potions and Narcissa would help since she had been studying to be a medic witch.

Knowing that Evan would be in good hands Voldemort only had one problem. He had to find the boy before his lover did something stupid which would hurt himself. His forces were already divided as it was. The Order of the Phoenix was like an annoying fly but he still had to waste people on them. And taking over the ministry and making raids took both resources and time. And now he also had people out looking for Evan. It was a shame that Severus was busy or else he would have made the man brew a tracking potion. None of the spells, not even the dark ones, had worked. Wherever Evan was, the place was heavily warded.

"And we all know that Severus tends to forget taking care of himself when he is working on a new potion. In the end, having no one to look after him could make him forget himself so he would botch up the potion, and then he would have to start over. Think about it. You would have to wait another month before the potion would be finished, even longer because we would have to get knew ingredients for him." Voldemort sighed, getting work done while having one of the Malfoys hanging around seemed like a hopeless thing. And he knew all too well, that what Lucius said was true. Severus was indeed bad at taking care of himself. When working on a potion he was much like a child with a new toy, he simply forgot everything else around him.

"Very well, you are hereby allowed to visit Snape, to make sure that he is okay and taking care of himself. But do not disturb him from working on the potion or you and your wife will be paying the consequences."

Voldemort had not even finished speaking before Lucius was out of the room. When the door closed behind the blonde's back Voldemort turned his attention back to the paperwork in front of him. "Now it is just you and I, and only one of us is going to get out of this alive."

He could swear that the papers were grinning at him.

**)00(**

Harry awoke to sound of someone using the floo. Feeling groggy Harry sat up and rubbed his eyes while looking around. He was still in Snape's living room where he had fallen asleep after taking the potion. Snape was nowhere to be seen but Harry figured that the man was brewing down in his potion lab once again. Until now the potion master had manoeuvred around his questions about what he was brewing. Harry had a feeling that he would not like it should he find what the potion was for, but that did not stop him from trying.

Until now Harry had not seen Snape leave the house. The man probably feared that he would come home to a destroyed house should he leave Harry without supervision.

"Potter!"

Suddenly feeling wide awake Harry's head snapped in the direction of the voice. His eyes widened when he caught sight of blonde hair. He could only think of one pureblood family with hair like that and who would visit Snape, and it did not mean anything good for him.

Harry stared at Lucius and the woman next the Malfoy. Both of them were dressed in fine robes and wore the Malfoy crest on their outer robes. Harry knew that there were only three Malfoys in this time. And since two of them were males he guessed that this was Narcissa Malfoy nee Black. Draco's mother, sister to Belatrix and Sirius' cousin, though he could not see a big resemblance to him. Luckily the same thing could be said about him and Dudley. Harry shuddered at the thought of looking like his muggle cousin.

Narcissa Malfoy was a tall, slim, nice looking and very pale woman with pale skin and blue eyes and blonde hair, much like her husband and so unlike the rest of the Blacks.

Before any of them had time to do anything to him Harry jumped over the sofa, so the furniture was between him and the two Malfoys. He should have figured that Draco's parents would visit Snape. Draco had always acted as if he was close to the potion master and Harry remembered hearing a rumour that Snape was Draco's godfather.

It was no wonder that the blonde Slytherin had been able to get away with anything he did in their potion classes.

Looking up shortly from his hiding place behind the sofa Harry found Lucius and Narcissa standing in front of the fireplace with their wands pointing towards him. He wondered why they had not already started cursing him; it was not like he could do anything about it. To get out of the living room he would have to get past the two Malfoys and Snape had warned him against using magic. Harry wished he knew what consequences it would be so he could better judge if it would be worth the risk.

"Potter, our lord wants to talk with you. We promise not to kill you, if you just follow with us." Harry was sure that his heart was about to stop when Narcissa talked, and he ducked behind the sofa once again. They had no reason to want not to kill him unless they knew the truth. A shiver ran down his spine at that thought. He could all too well imagine Voldemort's reaction, should the dark lord know who he had been. It was a wonder that he had not felt anything through their link but since he had fled from Malfoy manor the connection between him and Voldemort had been oddly quiet.

"And why should I trust a death eater's word? As far as I know you will just hand me over to Voldemort and hope to be allowed to take part in the torture."

"The dark lord knows who you were and does no longer wish to kill you." Harry bit his lower lip, wanting to believe the woman's words. It would all be so easy if he could just go back to be Tom's lover. Shaking his head Harry knocked the thought out of his head. Tom was gone and instead there was Voldemort. He would have to remember that.

"If you do not trust my wife's word, then please believe me, Mr. Potter. You, of all people, should know what weight the word of a Malfoy has." Feeling a wand pressing into his neck Harry cursed out loud to let himself get distracted. While Narcissa had distracted him Lucius had sneaked up on him and held him at wand point. "Now we stand up and go to the fireplace. I am sure that the dark lord will be more than happy to see you again."

Harry snorted and glared at the blonde while he stood. "I am sure. He will be so happy, that he will accidently wave his wand and kill me with it." Lucius sighed as if he was dealing with a troublesome child. "Potter, I have already given you my word that we will not kill you, is my word not enough for you?" They stepped away from the sofa without Lucius moving the wand from where he had it pressed against Harry's neck. "You might not, but Voldemort will. Or are you really so stupid that you have not noticed what has happened every time Voldemort and I have met? That man was set on killing me even before I was born. I honestly doubt that anything will be able to make him change his mind."

While talking Harry glanced around in hope of seeing something which would help him with getting out of this situation. Unluckily, for him, there was nothing of use. "Perhaps, he has now found out that you are-"

"My dear, I do not think that the dark lord would like it should you spill all his secrets without his permission."

Lucius paled at his wife's interruption, and Harry decided to use the chance the best he could. "Flubby!" He called and quickly moved away from Lucius' wand. A loud pop alerted him about the houseelf's arrival. "What does young wizard master Potter wants Flubby to do?"

Harry dodged a spell Lucius cast at him and heard something behind him break, cursing the fact that he could not use his magic. "Flubby, take care of them, it would not be good if Snape's hard work would be to no use, would it not?" He did not need to look at the houseelf to know that Flubby's eyes were growing impossible big.

"Master potion master's lovers are not allowed to hurt master potion master's patient. Flubby will make sure that young wizard master Potter is not hurt." The houseelf snapped her fingers and Narcissa and Lucius were sent flying into the sofa, where Harry had been asleep a few moments ago, unable to get up. "Flubby will inform master potion master about master potion master's lovers coming on visit despite master potion master's master's orders."

With that Flubby disappeared, leaving the three humans alone in the living room. Harry kept an eye on the two Malfoys, who sat still and stared at him as if they could not believe what had just happened. In a way Harry could understand how they felt. After all he had never imagined that Snape would have lovers, and especially not the two Malfoys. He wondered shortly if Draco knew about this. It was not like he would get a chance to tell the other boy and even if he did he would not do so. In Harry's eyes there were far more important things for him to worry about, and it was not something which concerned him.

Narcissa and Lucius' faces were flushed and their hair was out of order. Not even Mortimus had been like this. Harry wished he had had a camera with him. A photo of the pair like that would have been invaluable.

Without hesitating Harry walked over to the fireplace and grabbed some floo powder from a jar. Until now he had not had a chance to use the floo and he was not about to miss this chance.

With the floo powder in hand Harry turned around and met the two Malfoys' gazes. "Please be easy on Snape, he is still one of you, despite having housed me for some time. And tell Voldemort." Harry paused, hearing someone coming running towards them. It seemed like Flubby had indeed alerted her master about his lovers' visit. "Tell Tom that Beleza is going to take care of the old goat. Marauders' Lair." Harry said and stepped into the fireplace just as Snape entered the living room.

Harry was thrown out of the fireplace in the living room in Remus' house and landed at the floor on his behind. Fearing that someone would be following him Harry rolled away from the fireplace. He did not fancy being crushed under someone's body.

He was on his feet again and sat ready to jump, while trying to gain control over his breath. The house seemed abandoned but Harry did not want to take the risk of relaxing too soon. The potion he had taken made him feel tired and Harry did not want to be caught because he was not on guard.

Breathing heavily Harry got up and left the small living room. The place was smaller than Snape's house but it did not bother Harry. It just meant that there were fewer places for his enemies to hide. Unfortunately it also meant that he would also have few places to hide should it be proved necessary.

It seemed like no one had visited the place since he and Remus had been captured by Fenrir and his gang of merry werewolves. There was still a big hole in the wall in the kitchen and pieces of rubble were spread over the floor. Harry wined when he saw the wall he had been smashed into, where there still was a mark from the impact. It was no wonder that he had been so sore until Snape had healed him.

Hopefully Voldemort would not kill Snape because the potion master had had him in his house without informing the dark lord about it. He held no doubt that Snape would be punished and Harry felt bad because the professor had not had to help him, but he had still tried. It was therefore he had left the message. Hopefully it would lessen the dark lord's anger, though Harry doubted that anything of Tom was left inside Voldemort, but he could only hope in this case.

Harry knew that he should not have talked about Beleza and Dumbledore. If Voldemort had not already known who he had been this would tell the dark lord for sure. Also letting the man know about his plans gave Voldemort a chance of finding a way to stop him. No matter what Harry would not let anyone stop him. After he had gotten his revenge he did not really care for what happened to him.

Moving slowly through the house Harry finally dared to breathe. The house was empty and he just wanted to get out of it as soon as possible. Hoping that what he was looking for would still be there Harry decided to hurry on.

Hearing the floo in the living room being activated Harry cursed. He could only think of three people who would know where to look for him right now. "Potter, stop running away like a coward. You have no reason to fear. I promise that the dark lord does not want to kill you." It seemed like Snape had let go of Lucius and Narcissa sooner than Harry had hoped. It just meant that he would have to hurry unless he wanted to get captured.

Harry walked faster while he tried to be silent, hopefully he would be able to reach the garage without Lucius seeing him. After that he would be able to get away without much trouble. When a yellow curse flew over his head Harry dodged and started running. It seemed like things just not went the way he wanted them to go.

Hearing the blonde move behind him Harry started to run. He had no intentions about letting himself get caught. He jumped away from a curse which hit the spot where he had been just seconds before. Harry started feeling more clearheaded. It seemed like the effect of the potion which Snape had given him was lessening.

Harry twisted his body to avoid hitting a picture which was ripped of the wall and aimed for his head. Though Malfoy claimed not wanting to harm or kill him it seemed like the blonde would stop at nothing to capture him.

With Lucius hot on his heals Harry ran down the corridor, heading towards the door which would lead him to the garage. Luckily the door was still open, since Harry had forgotten to close it after him when he had went to lunch the day they had been found. He could only hope that no one had taken things from the house. If it was not there, he was not sure what he was supposed to do.

Years of running from Dudley and his cousin's gang did Harry good. Despite Lucius having longer legs than Harry the black haired wizard was still faster. It was one of the good things about not having grown up with magic around him. He had learned how to make do without it. He had lost count of how many times being fast on his feet had saved him from a beating.

Lucius was not far behind him though he was probably not as close as Harry imagined. Harry knew better than to look back. He had done that mistake before in the past and had often been caught because he stumbled over something in his way.

Harry tumbled through the door to the garage, and slammed the door close behind him without slowing down. Instead he headed to where he had left the motorbike. It was not hard to find, after all the motorbike was big enough for Hagrid to ride on, and with its sidecar it took up a good deal of the space in the garage.

He used a moment to locate the switch which would make the door out to the street open, before he hurried over to the bike. He could already hear Lucius working on the closed door, and it sounded like the blonde was having troubles, though he was not sure how long the door would hold. There was a reason to why the house was being called Marauders Lair, as Remus had explained to him.

Sirius had lived in the house for a short period of time where he had been on run, and not even Dumbledore knew about the place. Since the animagus had had nothing to do and had feared that the aurors would find him he had set up several traps around the house. Remus had spent a long time taking care of most of the traps, but had let some of them stay in case that something should happen. It was weird that none of them had gone of when Fenrir and the other werewolves had attacked them, but Harry had no plans about staying and trying to figure out the answer.

Harry reached the motorbike just as the door banged open. He jumped up at the machine and turned his head to look back at the blonde, unable to hold back a grin when he saw the Malfoy lord. Yellow chicken feathers could be spotted in the blonde hair. Lucius' legs were now painted red and he had a beak which dominated most of his face.

Unable to hide his grin Harry winked at Lucius. "Please do not be too hard on Snape. Fuck me sideways." Lucius' expression was nearly too good to be true when the motorbike jumped to live with a roar. The garage door had opened enough for him to drive out and Harry decided to use the blonde's frozen state to make his exit.

As Remus had told he did not have to worry about getting the motorbike to work. Harry just leaned forward and the motorbike drove out of the garage with the same speed as his old broom had. Harry honked and drove fast down the street, noticing that Lucius was not trying to stop him anymore. When he died and met Sirius in the afterlife he would have to thank his godfather for coming up with such a password. Not only did it annoy people but it also seemed to save lives… Who would have thought that?

**)00(**

He should have known that it would be a stupid idea to allow Narcissa and Lucius to visit their third lover. But he had needed the pause from the two Malfoys and it was the only thing he had been able to come up with which would ensure him peace for some time.

Now Voldemort sat in his private room, with a glass of wine in his hand and stared into the flames in his fireplace, lost in thoughts of the past. His free hand sought under his robes and closed around the necklace he had worn since the day he had gotten it from Evan at St. Mungo's. Many times he had thought about throwing the necklace away because of a fit of anger about Evan's dead, but every time something had stopped him. A feeling that Evan would want him to keep the gift. And Nagini somehow would not give him a bloody moment alone.

The snake lay in front of the fire, seemingly asleep, and snored loudly. It was lucky for him that she had just eaten or he would still have to hear about her demands about him having to go out and search for Evan. Though there was nothing more he wanted to do, he would have to stay hidden for the time being. The ministry had acknowledged his return and nearly everybody knew his face now. Of course he could use a glamour but Voldemort saw it as below him to do something like that.

He could not help but wonder what his lover was doing in the moment. Hopefully Eva was smart enough to stay hidden where Dumbledore would not be able to find him. Unfortunately it would also make his own search much harder than it already was. He had a feeling that Evan had some allies whom he did not know about and who hid his lover from him.

No matter what he would not stop before Evan once again stood by his side.

His thoughts were cut short by the sound of someone knocking on his door. Voldemort frowned. Only a few people had access to his private chambers and they knew not to disturb him unless it was important.

With a flick of his hand Voldemort opened the door with wandless magic so that his visitors would be able to enter. He guessed what they had to say would be important, or else they knew better than to disturb him when he was in this wing of his home.

To his surprise he saw Lucius, Narcissa and Severus walking into his room. The two Malfoys were behind their third lover with their wands pressed into the potion master's back. He shortly wondered if this was a new game of theirs or if something had happened to the potion Severus had been working on. The look at their faces was grave enough for something like that to have happened.

Severus, on the other hand, looked like he was weighed down with guilt. Voldemort knew the man and he knew that not much could make him react that way and it made him more worried than he was willing to admit.

The trio stopped in front of him and while Lucius and Narcissa bowed they forced Severus down on his knees. Voldemort raised a non-existing eyebrow, silently wondering what this was about. Something told him, that this was something he would not like.

As if sensing his rising anger, Nagini awoke and lifted her head from the floor while she made her way over to him. While passing the visitors she brushed against Severus, who could not hold back a shiver. It was a reason to why he let Nagini come with him at the meetings. Even his most loyal and trusted people feared the big snake in some way or another. It certainly helped that he had made them watch as she ate what she had caught on one of her hunts.

"My lord." Lucius said with a bow, and Voldemort's frown deepened. It was not often that these three used his correct title, something had to be off for Lucius to be so formal. Deciding to see where this was going Voldemort gave sign to Lucius to continue.

"After you have given your permission I brought Narcissa with me over to Severus. As always we did not announce our arrival, not wanting to disturb him if he was working on the potion when we arrived. Unfortunately we had not counted on him having a guest when we arrived." Voldemort sipped of the glass, silently wondering who Severus' guest could have been. It could not have been any of his people since he had forbidden them all to visit Severus while he was working on the potion. And he knew that the old goat had given Severus time from school to work.

"Imagine our surprise when we arrived and found Harry Potter at Severus' sofa, seemingly having awoken from a nap there. The boy showed no fear until he saw us, so my guess is that he had been there for some time." Voldemort's eyes narrowed when they landed on Severus. Never had he thought that the potion master, the boy he had taken in, would betray him in such a way. If not because he knew that Dumbledore wanted Evan dead he would have thought that Severus really was a spy for the light.

"And where is the boy now?" As long as he did not know how much Severus knew, he would keep the information at a minimum. After all Severus had been told nothing about Evan and Potter being one and same person, and they all knew that Severus would be unable to kill Lily Evan's son.

Severus seemed to shrink into himself, as if knowing that he was in deep troubles. But then the potion master straightened his back and looked him directly in his eyes. Voldemort met the other man's gaze, seeing no regret in the black orbs. "I could not let you kill the Potter boy so I brought him to my home when I found him outside Malfoy manor. I figured that I would find out what to do with him once he awoke."

The potion master's voice was monotone as if he did not care about what was about to happen to him. Voldemort was not about to interrupt him as he wanted to know what had driven the man to hide Evan from him.

"I found out that Potter was sick, he coughed up blood everyday so I decided to work on a cure for him while I was also working on your potion. Meanwhile Ha-Potter told me what had happened in the time he had been gone."

"He told you everything." Voldemort said as he leaned forth in his chair and Severus nodded. "Yes, he told me about the past." More did not need to be said before Voldemort believed him and sat back in the chair and crossed his legs. "Did you find a cure for him?"

For a short moment Severus looked shocked, but then he slowly nodded. "I believe so. It took some time for me to figure out what was wrong with him, but after hearing his story and thinking it through, I finally had a breakthrough." Once again Voldemort leaned forward in the chair, his attention caught. "Do tell."

Severus took a deep breathe, preparing himself for a longer speech. "Harry was first time hit with the killing curse when you sought him out that Halloween. Instead of dying you were reduced to a spirit state and Harry was hailed as the Boy Who Lived." Severus licked his lips, an obvious sign that he was nervous, and something Voldemort had not seen for quite awhile. "Next time Harry was hit it sent him back in time, at the same time he started having fits, although the coughing up blood first came when Dumbledore tried to hit him with the curse but missed. The next time he was hit with the curse he was sent back to this time and now the fits are far more frequent."

"So the curse is the reason for these fits of his?"

Severus nodded slowly as if he would make sure that Voldemort understood him. "Yes, it seems like it is destroying the cells in his lungs, which will result in a slow and painful dead. I had hoped to stop this but thanks to the cure being disturbed Harry is now without any defence and no cure."

"He can do wandless magic."

Only Narcissa and Lucius seemed to be shocked over this news which meant that Severus had known about them. "No, not until after a few days after having taken the potion. It will mess up with his magic and the result will be something which not even I can predict, if he is lucky he will just drain himself and be tired afterwards. If he is unlucky he will probably kill himself a lot faster than he already is."

Voldemort felt the blood being drained from his face. Never had he thought that his Evan would be defenceless and alone. In the time he had known Evan his lover had been strong and able to defend himself should something happen. It was not the case right now and it meant that he would have to find him, soon.

"Send people out looking for him. I want them to look anywhere, and none of them are allowed to try and curse him. I want him here as soon as he is found. Am I to be understood?" The two Malfoys nodded while Severus bowed his head. "I have not forgotten about what you have done, Severus. You will continue with my potion and also work on the cure for Evan. Your punishment will be that you will be in the care of Lucius and Narcissa and move in with them. Get out of my sight."

Lucius bowed again and stood. "Before I leave, my lord, the boy left a message to you. He said that Beleza would take care of the goat and he asked you to not be too hard on Severus here." Voldemort nodded, but did not explain what Evan had meant with what he had said even though he already had an idea of what it was about.

Voldemort watched in silence as they hurried away. He knew he should probably have chosen something else for Severus' punishment, like torture or something similar. But he needed the potion master for his potion and Evan's cure. He trusted no one else to make a potion for him and his lover.

Besides, being left in the care of Narcissa and Lucius was far more cruel than any torture he could think of in the moment.

**)00(**

Landing the motorbike was harder than landing with a broom. Harry would not call it a crash but he was glad that no one was around to see his graceless landing. He stood leaned up against the motorbike, waiting for the feeling to return to his legs. Driving a whole day on the blasted motorbike really did nothing good for him. Luckily he had found a device much similar to the one in Arthur Weasley's car which had kept him hidden from muggles' view. That way he avoided getting the ministry on his neck.

He looked up and spotted the cottage in the dimming light. The place had changed much in the time which had passed. It looked neglected and Harry guessed that no one had been living in there since he had supposedly died.

With a heavy sigh he left the motorbike after placing a charm on it which would protect it against nature and weather, and headed towards the cottage. It looked much like the day where he had run off to Hogsmeade because Grindelwald had attacked. But he could see there was much work to do before the place would return to its old self. It was a shame that he would not be the one to do it.

Harry turned around and looked to Hogsmeade and then to Hogwarts. He remembered standing like this before. He would guess where Tom was though he had known it would be impossible unless he cheated and used the Marauders' map.

With a sigh Harry turned around and headed inside the cottage.

It was time for him to greet an old friend.

Harry dodged a vase thrown in his direction. He did not remember buying that but perhaps it had been there when he moved in and he had simply not paid any attention to it. "Hey, would you please stop that!" He yelled and looked around in hope of catching a glimpse of the ghost, who was nowhere to be seen. "Leave this place. I have been ordered to protect this place and I will allow no one in."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair while stepping out of the way for another piece of flying furniture. This was not what he had imagined when he had thought of the way Hubert would greet him. "I know, after all it was I who asked you to look after the place while I was gone."

The things froze in the air and Harry knew that Hubert was watching him though he could still not see the ghost anywhere. "Look, it is me, Evan James. I moved into this house and brought Tom Riddle with me. I bought Ares and Nagini, I annoyed you when I banged my head into a wall and announced I was bored."

Harry closed his mouth and waited. He was not sure where he would go if Hubert would not let him stay in the cottage. He guessed that fifty years alone had made the ghost a little crazy… well crazier than Hubert already had been.

"Is it really you?" The voice sounded to his left and Harry turned his head enough to be able to see Hubert. "Yes, it is me, Hubert."

"It is good to have you back." Hubert said and finally came into view. If the ghost had been able to, Hubert would probably have been crying. He seemed to be close enough to do it from what Harry could see. "Do you have any idea of how worried I have been? They told me that you had been killed but I did not believe them. A ghost knows when someone they know has been killed. It is a sixth sense, but no one wanted to believe me and they all left me alone because I could not let them in because of your orders about protecting the cottage."

Harry smiled. "I have missed you, and I promise you that I will take revenge on the one who split up our little family." Hubert seemed content with that. "So, what do you want to do now where you are back?" It was oblivious that Hubert did not care about what had happened in the time he had been missing which Harry guessed was a good thing. He did not fancy telling the whole story one more time.

"Well, actually I think I will catch up on some sleep. It has been a long travel and I am tired. I promise that we will talk tomorrow."

"Good, and do not think that you will be able to get out of it. A ghost never sleeps so you will not be able to avoid me."

**Next: Harry goes to Hogwarts.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

**Beta: Angelhitomie**

Once in grade school Harry remembered a teacher telling the class that home is where heart is. Already back then he had known that he would never find a home with the Dursleys despite him having hoped so. For a time he had thought that Hogwarts was his home but it was mostly the castle and not the people who had made him feel so. He had not spent enough time in the Burrow, and Grimauld Place had simply been too creepy for him.

The only place he had could call his home was the cottage, but without Tom and Nagini it was just not the same. Harry sighed and ran a hand through his still wet hair from the bath he had just came out of. He knew that Hubert was watching him, the ghost had only left him alone when he went to the bathroom, and it was only because Harry had promised that he would not disappear in the time he was in there. If he had known that his disappearance would have such an effect on the ghost he would have returned sooner, though Harry doubted that a few weeks would have made any difference.

The cottage was pretty much in the same state as he had left it. Ares' corpse was gone but a tour in the garden had lead him to a small gravestone under a tree with the black owl often had rested in. It was a fitting place for Ares and if the owl had been able to Harry was sure that Ares would have been thankful for what had been done for its body.

A few things were missing from the cottage. Tom's things and a few of Harry's own. Harry guessed that Tom had taken them with him when the boy had left for the orphanage. His trunk was missing but Harry felt no worry. He knew that the spells on his trunk would stop anyone but him from opening it. So Voldemort would not have been able to get his cloak or the map. Other than that the cottage looked just as it had done the day he had left it.

It looked like a storm had passed through the place, only a few things had been removed, through Harry suspected it had been so that Tom better had could make his way through the house. There had been no reason for Tom to clean up the place since the boy had been going back to the orphanage only a few days after that.

Hubert had explained that no one save Tom had been able to come there because of the wards.

It seemed like Hubert had not been as alone as Harry first had thought. In his remaining years in Hogwarts Tom had regularly visited the ghost to make sure that Hubert did not get too lonely. After the Slytherin's graduation Tom had come around a few times through the years. He had usually come at the day where Harry had adopted the boy, at Harry's birthday and also his supposed death day. But fifteen years ago Tom had stopped visiting and Hubert had assumed that Tom had died. Harry knew what had happened but did not have the heart to inform Hubert about the truth.

Until now Harry had avoided talking to Hubert about why he had disappeared those years ago. He knew better than to tell Hubert about his plans, since he figured the ghost would try to stop him from leaving. In worst case Hubert would possesses him which Harry would not try again. One time had been more than enough for him.

But it still left him with the problem about how he was going to get outside without Hubert stopping him.

Harry moved away from the window where he had been standing and starring at Hogwarts. He knew that he would have to make a move soon. Thanks to the potion Snape had given him Harry felt better than he had done for a long time, but Harry was not willing to wait until the potion's effect would stop. He would have to do something soon; already today he would go on a scout mission. He needed to get into Hogwarts without Dumbledore finding out about it. Luckily Harry knew a way into the school which Dumbledore knew nothing about. That much he was sure of.

"I am heading out."

"Will you come back?" Hubert was in front of him, standing in the doorway so that Harry would not be able to get past him without walking through the ghost.

Harry hesitated. He did not want Hubert to try and stop him but it would be fair for the ghost to wait for him when he himself did not even believe that he would get out of this alive. "To be honest I am not sure. You should not wait for me. Perhaps it would be best if you allowed someone else to move in. That way you will not be alone." Hubert watched him thoughtfully, and Harry stood as still as possible while looking back. He had no idea about how to fight a ghost but he was willing to try should it be proved necessary.

Finally Hubert sighed, it seemed like he had found what he had been looking for. Whether it was a good or bad thing for him, Harry had no idea about. The ghost moved away so Harry could go through the door. Harry smiled when he passed Hubert. "Thanks Hubert, it has been good to know you." He said and Hubert huffed. "Well, you better stay alive or else I am sure that Tom will kill you. And should you die, you are welcome to stay here with me. We can pull pranks on whoever moves in here." Harry could not help but smile at the ghost's optimistic tone. This was a reaction which he had not expected.

"You see, it gets a little lonely being the only one here so you will be more than welcome."Although it warmed his heart the statement also creped him out a little. It reminded him a little too much of second year where Moaning Myrtle and her offer to share her bathroom if he died in the Chamber of Secrets. At least he was pretty sure that Hubert was not in love with him.

"Thanks Hubert, I will try my best but more I cannot promise. This is something I have to do since no one else seem to be able to. But that is the story of my life." Harry smiled bitterly. It was not like Voldemort and the death eaters had not tried. But, unlike Harry, they did not have the means to get it done. Harry would be able to get in a place where Dumbledore would not expect an attack.

"Just make sure that you do whatever you need to get done. And if you need to move on afterwards, then do not let the thought of me stop you. Who knows, perhaps Tom will be waiting for you on the other side." Harry nodded even though he knew that it would not be the case. "Thanks again Hubert. You have been a good friend and no matter what happens I will always remember you." They nodded to each other, not needing to say more.

With a last smile to Hubert Harry left his home without a second glance. The motorbike he had left inside his old room. He seriously doubted that he would need it again, but no matter what happened to him he would at least know that Sirius' motorbike would be safe. He had also left his outer roves inside the cottage since he would be able to move more freely without them on. Hopefully it would not be necessary but he would rather be prepared in case something happened. He could only hope that no one saw him like this. They would probably think something was wrong with him walking around in his inner robes despite the temperature.

The last thing he needed was people paying attention to him.

Despite it being near the end of fall it was still warm so Harry did not have to worry about wearing too much clothes. It was not like he would need it since he did not plan on staying out for long.

Before he left Harry connected the wards to his life force. That way they would fall when he did, and Hubert could let someone move in, should he wish doing so. Much more could he not do in case Voldemort was watching to wards.

"One would think that the dark lord would think of looking for me here. Maybe he thinks it would be too obvious for me to go here." Harry said while looking around to make sure that no one was watching him. He had already put his plan enough on a risk as it was by given Lucius the clues he had given. It could not take long before Voldemort figure out what he meant and Harry would be gone before that happened.

Harry stared down at Hogsmeade. The last time he had seen the place it had been enveloped in smoke and even from where he was he had been able to hear the screams when Grindelwald and his people had been attacking the town. Even now Harry could not help but shiver. A lot of people had died that day and he had killed a good part of them. Not that he felt regret about it. He had done it to protect those he loved, not that it seemed to have made any difference in the end. After all, he was still as alone as he had been when his parents had been murdered.

Casting a last glance at the cottage, where he thought he could see Hubert in one of the windows, Harry's muscles started to shift and he felt his body shrink. The process was slower because it was so long time since he had done it last. Luckily Snape's potion did not interfere with the process since Harry was not sure what the effects would have been.

Not long after a small kitten with black fur and a white bolt at its forehead stood where the boy had been. With a graceful jump Harry passed through the wards and started running the way down to Hogsmeade. He moved freely and fast, and kept to the patch so that nothing would stop him. From the smells around him he knew that it had not been a long time since someone had been there.

He had felt them touch the wards earlier this day while he had been taking a bath. Harry had chosen not to react since the person had done nothing else than study the wards. Since he could not even smell the people, other than what was left of their smell on the pathway Harry guessed that it had just been some kids from the town who had come to look at the place.

As he neared Hogsmeade Harry slowed down. There was a lot more people walking around than there was supposed to be. And a great part of them were wearing Hogwarts robes. Harry cursed himself for not keeping track of the days. He absolutely had to go to Hogsmeade on a Hogsmeade weekend.

Would it be too much to ask that there would be no girls in Hogsmeade today? Perhaps he would be lucky and they were all sick or having a girl talk.

Knowing that he would not be able to get to the secret entrance if he did not go into the town Harry took a deep breath and kept his tail high while he continued walking. He would do this for Tom and nothing would be able to get him to back off.

Dumbledore would never know what hit him, once he was finished with him.

**)00(**

"Just why did I agree with her to take us into this shop?" Blaise's voice was nothing more than a low whisper and no one else than Draco, who was sitting close to him, could hear it. Draco leaned slightly closer while he watched the people around them in a subtle way. "I have no idea. But it is your girlfriend, so you tell her that we want to leave." Blaise paled at that idea and quickly looked around to make sure that the third person was nowhere around them.

"Are you crazy? Pansy has been talking about this place for ages. She will not take it kindly if she knew that we wanted to leave." Draco shrugged. "I fail to see why I had to come with the two of you. This place is for couples, and let us admit it, three people is one too many."

"If you feel like that, you should have told us so, Draco. Pansy and I would have." Draco silenced his friend with a single glance. "I do not feel like that, it is just that I do not like this kind of places."

"If that is what you feel just go. When Pansy returns we will come looking for you so you will only have a short time for yourself. Remember what professor Snape always have said, we are strongest in groups. Then the others houses do not dare to attack us." Catching a glimpse of Pansy coming out of the restroom and heading Draco drowned the last of his earl grey tea. "See how long you are able to keep her here. I am going to go a little around. We will return to Hogwarts together as always."

Not having to wait for an answer from his best friend Draco left Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. Silently he swore that it would be the last time he entered that place. Not even Pansy would be able to get him in there again.

Scratch that, she would probably just drag him with her as she had done so many times before. That girl was too strong for her own good and she knew how to use her strength to get what she wanted.

Quickly dodging his head Harry avoided being seen by a group of Gryffindors who passed him without paying any attention to their surroundings. Severus had known what he had been doing when he had ordered the snakes to stay in groups. Ever since Potter had died it seemed like the Gryffindors felt the need to show that they were the good guys. And the best way to do so was by going after Slytherin house where all, of course, were evil. Draco had lost count of how many times he had found a crying first year that some Gryffindors had ganged up on.

They were on their own. The professors did what they could but they could not be everywhere, and Draco knew that some of the professors turned the head the other way if they came up on a scene. Perhaps it was because they also needed renewing their beliefs that Slytherins were the evil ones. Besides, why should they help someone they might face at the field one day? They would not get any help from Dumbledore, nor did they want, and with Severus gone they had no one to stand up for them.

Seeing red hair heading towards him Draco followed with a group of fourth year Hufflepuffs, knowing that they would be too scared to rat him out. Ignoring their fearful glances Draco kept up with the group. As long as he was out in the open he knew that no one would be stupid enough to try and attack him. At least he hoped that the grownups in Hogsmeade would stop it if a fight should be started, after all it would be bad for their business.

The sound of a bell reached Draco's ears. He glanced around, trying to figure out where it came from. Currently there were not many people around him. The Hufflepuffs had disappeared into a shop a little while ago. Draco was not sure if it was because they had actually seen something interesting, or because they had wanted to get away from him, nor did he care.

Glancing around again Draco still had the feeling that he was being watched. Severus had taught him to trust this kind of gut feelings since they were what had kept his godfather alive when he had been dealing with professor Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix.

He moved towards where he had heard the sound, in a small alley between two shops. It had trash lying at the ground but he guessed he could always change robes when he returned to Hogwarts and burn those he was wearing right now.

Draco stepped into the blind alley, making sure to have his wand ready in case whatever had made the sound would attack. It could easily be a prank from the Gryffindors, and Draco knew he would regret it dearly if that was the case. But perhaps it would let him pay those idiots, who had tormented those from his house, back.

Something small and dark moved in the farthest corner and Draco raised his wand. "Lumos." A soft light filled the blind alley. Draco knew that it made him an easy target but since it was midday it was not like he would be able to hide in the darkness. And anyone passing by would be able to see him. If anyone was stupid enough to attack him, help would come in a few minutes.

It was a shame that it would only take mere seconds to fire the killing curse.

Holding his breath and with his wand raised to attack, Draco reached the corner from where the sound had come from and where he had seen something move. He was glad that no one was able to see him right now. His heart was beating too fast and his wand hand was shaking, he found it very unlikely that he would be able to cast a spell should someone suddenly attack him.

Draco found himself staring down at a small ball of black fur with big, green eyes. When the kitten moved ever so slightly the sound came again and Draco realised it was because of a silver ball which hang around the animal's neck. Quickly he looked around to make sure that there was no one around to see him. Draco crouched down and held his hand out so that the animal could smell to it.

"Hello, little one, are you lost? Do not worry, I am sure we will be able to find your owner." When he reached out for the kitten, it hissed and backed away from him although it did not get far before it hit the wall behind it. Draco kept still so he would not scare it more than it already was. Only a few knew about his interest in felines. Blaise and Pansy kept saying that it was a wonder that he had not been sorted into Gryffindor instead of the house of snakes.

"Well, are you not a cute fellow?" The kitten hissed as if to disagree with him. "Funny, you remind me much of Potter. Black fur and green eyes. You even have the same lighting marking as he had. The kitten tilted its head to the side, as if it actually could understand what he was saying. "You better be careful that no one sees you. Potter is not popular since people believe that he betrayed them all. Honestly, Potter was their Golden Boy, there was no way he could have done something. Unfortunately there is only a few of us who believes that he is innocent."

The kitten stepped away from the wall and butted its head against his hand. Getting the meaning Draco started scratching it behind its ear. As a reward the cat started purring and Draco could not help but smile. There were only a few people whom he could let his mask slips around. Luckily that was not the case with animals. They did not care about who he or his family was as long as he was friendly towards them.

"There you go." Draco scoped the kitten up and held it close so that it would not be able to get away from him. "You do not look like a stray although you are a little too thin. Perhaps I should take you with me back to Hogwarts and hear if someone is missing a cat. If not I will see if I can find a place for you to be. Probably away from school. It is not safe to be with a snake at these times." The kitten gave his hand a lick and Draco smiled. "It seems like you are agreeing with me."

Knowing that Pansy and Blaise were probably looking for him by now, and they were probably worried when they could not find him, Draco stood. The kitten meowed and dug it claws into his arm. "Easy little one. Even if you fall, you have no reason to worry. I am Hogwarts' best seeker so I will get you, before you hit the ground." If the kitten had had eyebrows Draco had a feeling that it would have raised one now. "Okay, Potter was the best seeker but since he is gone it is my right to claim the title."

As he left the blind alley Draco kept talking, keeping his voice low so that the people around him were not able to hear what he said. "It is not like there is any competition now where Potter is gone. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw never gave us any reason to worry, the only one we lost against was Gryffindor. But after Potter's death the Weaslette took over his position. Honestly Potter was a better seeker than her and he was nearly blind as a bat without his glasses. The worst thing is that they have let Weasel have the position as quidditch captain. I have seen him play chess but that does simple not work with quidditch. Sometimes it is just not worth playing. It is not satisfying if you have not fought for victory."

"Draco!"

Draco's head snapped up and his eyes narrowed before he caught sight of Pansy and Blaise heading his way. Draco relaxed. At least he did not have to fear an attack from them. He felt the kitten's body tense as the two other Slytherins came closer and ran a hand through its fur until the kitten relaxed and started purring.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy, how dare you to walk out on us like that? You know that professor Snape ordered us to stay together so we would be safe. So why did you leave us?" Draco could not help but flinch. Pansy's voice attracted people's attention to them. "Hello Pansy, good to see you. I just thought that you and Blaise wanted a little time for yourself."

His friend's expressing softened a little and Draco let out his breath. "Still, that is no reason for you to. What is that? Is that a kitten?" Before Draco had a chance to answer her, the kitten was ripped out of his arms. "So cute, is it yours? Where did you buy it? He is a little dirty but that is not something a bath will not help with." The kitten looked terrified when Pansy mentioned bath, as if it really understood what she was saying.

"Actually, it is not mine. I found him in a blind alley. He has probably run away or has been abandoned. If he has no owner, I will have to find a place for him to stay."

"Well, he can stay with me until that happens. I say we go back to school. There is a certain someone who is in need of a bath." Pansy said and cooed over the kitten which growled and the two boys shared a glance. "It is your girlfriend." Draco said his voice low so that the girl would not be able to hear him speak. "I know and I am still wondering what I had taken when I asked her to go out with me."

"Blaise, if you want to get anything in the near future you better start thinking before you open your mouth."

Blaise paled and Draco grinned. "Whipped?"

"Shut up. The day where you get together with someone we will see who is whipped."

"As if such a thing will ever happen. There is too much of me for one person to love." Draco said with a smirk. It was no secret that he never stayed long with one person.

"Well, look at this, three little snakes, all on their own." Draco, who had caught up with Pansy together with Blaise, stopped when he saw who was standing in their way. "Weasel, Weaslette and mudblood." Draco said as he and Blaise stepped in front of Pansy so that the kitten was hidden from the Gryffindors' view. Glancing around he realised that the Gryffindors, probably Granger, had planned this. They stood where no one from Hogsmeade could see them and they were too far away from Hogwarts to be heard. Not that they were stupid enough to call for help.

"Shut your mouth, you snakes just refuses to learn your place. Even the youngest of you are too stupid to learn from the lessons that we give them." Draco clenched his hands. "Be careful, mudblood. For one who claims to be smart you are actually quite stupid."

"Do not call my girlfriend that, ferret boy!"

"It is your girlfriend who actually said that she was behind some of the attacks on the student body." Pansy said from behind the two Slytherin boys.

"Shut up." Weaslette said and Blaise sighed. "It seems like being good with words is something which your family is missing, just like money." They watched as the three faces turned an interesting red nuance. "Why you little, I will show you who your betters are." Ginny Weasley said and took forth her wand. "Imper-"

Before she had time to finish the curse a black ball of fur jumped from Pansy's arms and latched itself to Weaslette's head. The red haired girl screamed and tried to force the kitten away from her face. Granger stepped in to help the other girl, having a cat herself and therefore thinking that she would be able to deal with it, but it actually seemed like she was just making it worse.

Draco turned his grey eyes towards Weasley who had raised his wand and pointed it at his little sister's face. "I would not do that if I was you."

"And why should I listen to you, ferret boy?"

"Because we have watched your wand abilities in over fifth years and we all knows just how bad you are with a wand. It be magical or something else." Pansy cut in and Weasley's face got redder, even though Draco had believed that it was not possible.

Not letting Weasley get a chance to do something to the kitten, Draco pushed Granger out of his way and gently took hold of the kitten's neck. To his surprise the kitten stopped moving and hang limply as he lifted it away from the girl and held it close to him.

Without a word to the trio Draco, Blaise and Pansy stepped around the Gryffindors and continued walking as if absolutely nothing had happened. When they were out of earshot Draco turned his attention to the kitten in his arms, which was looking up at him with an innocent look in its eyes. "For that I am going to get the houseelves prepare the best food for you tonight, Beleza."

"What do you mean, Beleza was Tom Riddle's cat, and there is no way that it can be the same, it is nothing more than a kitten."

Blaise yelped when Pansy smacked the back of the dark boy's head. "Did you not listen when we talked in history class? The kitten looks exactly like Tom Riddle's did. Therefore it is a good idea to call him Beleza. Besides, I think that the name suits him."

They walked on towards Hogwarts while Pansy and Blaise continued bickering like an old couple. Draco ignored both of them and concentrated on the kitten he was holding.

The kitten really looked much like Tom Riddle's Beleza now that he thought about it. Surely it was a coincidence.

**)00(**

Voldemort let out a low growl as the last death eater hurried out of the audience room and the door closed behind his follower's back. He sat back in his throne with a sigh, suddenly feeling tired and as old as Dumbledore was.

Nagini disappeared out through another door, which lead to his private chambers. The snake had made it clear that she did not want to deal with him as long as he was like this. She also wanted Evan back where he belonged but it did not mean that she was being excruciating because of it.

He had not cursed anyone but it had been close. There was nothing else he wanted to right now than to make someone feel like they were in hell. Well, he wanted Evan by his side, but since it seemed to be impossible he would have to do with something else.

How his lover had managed to avoid being seen since he fled from Severus' home Voldemort did not know. Neither Evan nor Potter had any connections in this time. They had no place to hide, not even Gringotts was at their side. Voldemort was pretty sure that he would be contacted by the goblins should Evan decide to hide with them.

But still his lover seemed to have disappeared from the face of earth. Something which should not have been possible.

What made it all worse was that he knew about Evan's sickness now. He had Severus working at what would be the cure for his lover. The potion master had already started when Evan was living with him but he had explained how it would be a long process before Evan would be healed. And even then there was a risk of something happening.

Voldemort refused to think more about it. He was focussing on finding Evan first. Afterwards he would be able to play nurse with his lover as much as he wanted to. As long as he had something to say Evan would never have to suffer again.

But first he had to do the impossible task and find his wayward lover.

Frowning Voldemort's hand closed around the necklace Evan had given to him all those years ago. He could still remember what his lover had told him about the jewellery. Especially about it abilities to track down its twin.

Voldemort felt like smacking himself hard, luckily there was no one around to see when he followed that urge. He should have thought of that long time ago and he would already have had Evan where he wanted him. He took off the necklace and stared down at it as if it held the answers to all the questions in the universe.

"Show me to Evan James." Voldemort did nearly not dare to breathe as he waited for something to happen. He was not sure what was supposed to happen, but he knew that Evan had used this method when he had run back to the orphanage. Unfortunately his lover had never really explained what he had done and now Voldemort found himself regretting that he had not bothered enough to ask him any questions at that time.

Voldemort cursed when nothing happened and lifted his hand to throw the useless jewellery away. Before he actually did his face lit in realisation. "Could it really be that easy?" Slowly he lowered his arm and stared anew at the necklace. "Show me to Harry James Potter." It felt wrong to utter that name but he would do it if it would give him his beloved back.

The necklace hovered slightly over his palm and pointed towards north. Voldemort could not keep the smirk away from his face. "Wormtail!" The animagus opened the door to the room and kneeled deeply in front of him. "Yes my lord." For once the rat's voice was not shaking. "Tell Lucius that I want him here in fifteen minutes, no matter what he is doing."

When the rat did not move fast enough for him Voldemort sent a stinging hex in his direction and he smirked when he heard the hex find it target. "It seems like the hunt will end son, my dear Evan." Voldemort said while staring down at the hovering necklace with an unreadable glint in his red eyes.

**)00(**

Harry stood in front of the gargoyle at night time, listening to make sure that no one had followed him to the entrance to the headmaster's office. For the first time he noticed that there were no paintings. It was probably so the headmaster could come and leave without having anyone watching him.

He knew from the Slytherins' talk that Dumbledore was currently out of Hogwarts and knew he would have to use this chance since he did not know when he would get another one.

He had fled from the Slytherin common room as soon as the snakes had fallen asleep. It had taken longer than Harry had thought it would and the way up to the headmaster's office took longer when one was just a small kitten.

As promised Pansy had given him a bath and thought Harry felt clean he was still embarrassed of the thought of having someone to bathe him, especially a girl. Even though he had been bathed as Beleza it did not change the fact that he was still a male. Luckily the fur had covered his whole body so no one had been able to see his blush. Unfortunately he had no fur right now, but there was no one around to watch as his face went red at the thought.

As if it was not bad enough he now smelt of lavender. At least the smell was not as bad as it had been when he had been in his animagus form.

He started listing different candies as he thought about this evening. As promised Draco had given him a reward after his bath. Wanting to keep up the image of an innocent kitten Harry had found himself playing with a ball that the blonde Slytherin had made for him.

Harry could still not believe how much his former friends had changed. He found himself wondering if they always had been like this and he had just never seen it or if it was something which had happened over time. No matter what he did not regret what he had done to Ginny. He could not believe that she had been about to curse the Slytherins. And if Draco had not removed him he would have done a lot more damage than he had managed to.

He wondered how Ginny would explain the wounds to madam Pomfrey. It would not take a Ravenclaw to realise where the claw marks were from. Would the ginger haired girl try to blame Hermione's cat or would she tell the truth? But telling the truth meant that she would have to tell what had happened to make him attack her. No matter what, she would not get out of it easy.

On the thirteenth candy he knew the gargoyle jumped to life and moved aside. He was not sure about how much time he had left before Dumbledore would be back, but hopefully he would have enough time to do what he had to do.

He would make sure that Dumbledore's demise went into history.

He ran up the rotating stairs, not waiting for them to bring him up as he once would have done. In front of the closed door to Dumbledore's office Harry stopped. The headmaster had learned from previous mistakes and had gotten a professional to make the wards around his office. Apparently the headmaster feared that someone would pull pranks on him similar to the ones which Harry had pulled on him back in Tom's school time.

Unfortunately for the professor it seemed like Dumbledore had decided to be stingy with his money.

Harry let his magic reach out and probed the wards in hope of finding a weak spot. To his surprise his magic flowed freely and without any problems. It seemed like Snape's warnings had been false. Nothing would happen when he used his magic. Perhaps the potion master had only said so to keep him out of troubles for a few days.

Grinning Harry pushed to the wards with his magic until he had created a hole big enough for him to slip through but not big enough to disturb the wards so that they would alert Dumbledore that something was happening.

He pushed the door open, stepped inside and let the door shut behind him. Before anything could happen Harry cast a spell which froze the paintings. He could not let any of them run of and alert Dumbledore about what he was doing. After making sure that none of them were able to move, Harry allowed himself to pay attention to the rest of the room although he had been in there many times before.

Harry slowly looked around in the large, circular room with many windows and many portraits of old headmistresses and headmasters. A number of spindly tables stood around the room with sets of delicate looking silver instruments that whirred and emitted small puffs of smoke. He saw the headmaster's pensieve and the incredible collection of books, which made up the headmaster's private library. It seemed like the headmaster had managed to replace most of the things he had destroyed at the end of his fifth year.

Harry stood in the middle of the office, looking around without trying to touch anything. He guessed that Dumbledore had gotten smarter though the years. It would be so like the old goat to place traps around the place in case someone should manage to sneak into his office with plans about pranking the headmaster. Deciding to take a page out of his own book Harry turned around to face the door.

At least he would have something to do while he waited for Dumbledore to return from his errand. And this way Voldemort would know who was behind Dumbledore's demise.

Until now he had not gotten many ideas about how to end Dumbledore's life. Scratch that, he had gotten plenty but many of them had been like the one he had told Snape of the other day. At last he had decided on a surprise attack and using a curse he had found in one of Snape's old school books. Harry seriously doubted that the potion master had known the book had been there or the man would never have let him be unsupervised.

With all the times the killing curse had failed on him Harry would not risk of the use of it. He did not want Dumbledore to survive or to be sent to another time. Who knew what kind of damage Dumbledore could manage to do should he end in the past? Even though Remus had explained how only persons who were supposed to get to the past would get there he would rather be safe.

Not sure about when Dumbledore would return Harry started on his work. He would make sure that the man got a welcome which he would not forget in the rest of his very short life.

Dumbledore's office lit up in several colours while Harry cast spell after spell. He went through those he had used at the headmaster back in the past. The ones he had invented together with Mortimus and had not gotten a chance to use. And then again some of them which he just came up with at the spot.

He was not sure how many Dumbledore would activate before he would manage to kill the man. Harry was pretty sure that the office would be unusable after this. The magic was in several layers and knotted together at the weirdest places. He placed it in a pattern which only he found a meaning in. To anyone else who could see it, it would look like a child's painting.

Finally satisfied with his work and feeling tired and sweaty Harry let his arms fell with a huff. He had no idea about how long he had spent in the office by now, but a glance out of the window told him that several hours had passed since the sky was starting to turn red.

It could not take long before the headmaster would return. At least Harry hoped that it would be the case. He did not fancy the thought of having to wait for days before the headmaster returned. Besides it would only increase the risk of someone else stepping into his trap while he waited for Dumbledore.

Giving himself a mental pat on the shoulder Harry headed over to the big chair behind the headmaster's table. He wanted to be the first thing which Dumbledore saw once he returned and the chair was perfect for that. It would ensure that he would be seen while he still had the chance to seek cover behind the table should Dumbledore manage to fire a curse or two at him before Harry's traps started to work.

On his way over to the desk Harry's legs suddenly gave away under him and he felt to the floor while pain flared through his torso. Harry gasped for air and wrapped his arms around himself, as if trying to hug the pain away although he knew that it would not help.

He bit his lower lip hard to stop himself from crying out loud. He could not let anyone hear him although he doubted very much that there was anyone around to hear the sounds he made, and it was not like they would be able to hear anything because of the wards placed around the whole place.

Dumbledore had made the perfect place to torture people and no one would know about it.

Tears ran down his cheeks but Harry found it hard to care. Al he wanted to do was to curl into himself and make the pain disappear. He hit his head repeatedly against the floor without it helping anything. The soft carpet stopped him from doing any real damage to himself so he would not be able to knock himself out and thereby get away from the pain which was ragging through his body and made him twist like a mad.

It seemed like Snape's warnings had been real. Harry knew that if he had not used his magic he would probably not be in this situation right now. The potion had held the fit at bay until now but because he had insisted on using his magic he was now forced to pay the price for his stupidity.

If he ever saw the potion master again he would have to apologise to the man for doubting his word. It was a mistake which he would not do more than once.

Before he slipped into oblivion Harry saw the door to the office open and colourful robes came into his view. He smirked despite not being able to do anything and all his instincts were telling him to run as fast as possible and as far away as he could get. Even though he would not be able to deal with Dumbledore on his own he was sure that this would knock down the headmaster a peck or two.

He would just have to trust Voldemort to take care of the rest for him.

**Evil? I guess so. **

**Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter please remember to review.**

**I am looking for a story I have read once but not been able to find since then. It is a Harry Potter/ Twillight crossover, where Harry moves to Forks and opens a restaurant. It is a Edward/Harry fic and it has Bella bashing. Pleae tell me what it is called and I will be forever thankful.**

**Until then. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter there would have been a scene where Dumbledore offered Voldemort a lemon drop... Maybe I should put that scene in here somewhere. **

**Warning: Torture.**

**Beta: ****angelhitomie **

He had a pondering headache and it felt like he had been run over by a herd of hippogriffs. "So you are awake. I was beginning to fear that the enervate would not work."

His blood turned to ice in his veins at the familiar voice which held the grandfatherly tone he knew from his school time. But under that he was able to hear the pure hatred which was directed at him.

Slowly he lifted his head off of his chest and stared into twinkling blue eyes. When he tried to move away he found that he was bound to the chair and his hands were cuffed in front of him so tight that it was cutting off his blood circulation.

Not wanting Dumbledore to use legilimency on him Harry quickly looked away. He could never feel it if someone sneaked into his mind since he was no good at occlumency. Instead he tried to look anywhere else than the headmaster's face. To his satisfaction Harry noticed that Dumbledore seemed to have found several of his traps while he had been out.

"Morning professor, I would say that it is a joy to see you, but then I would by lying." Harry said solemnly and glanced down at his hand which still held the scar from Umbridge's detention. The years had made the scars fade but they were still very visible. Harry thought of it as just yet another one to his collection.

"Imagine my surprise Potter, when I returned to my office after a tiring night at the ministry and found you passed out on my floor having ruined my carpet with your blood. Add to that, that my whole office is filled with Merlin knows what." Despite the consequences Harry could not stop himself from opening his mouth and speak. "But professor, I thought you liked socks. That was what you told me in my first year."

"Idiotic boy, do you not understand anything? No one knows that you are here. You should fear me instead of trying to mock me." Dumbledore shouted and slammed his hands down at the desk. Harry watched interested as the sock in the man's beard moved.

"Compared to Voldemort, you are nothing."

"How does it feel Potter, to have the one who loved you lusting after your blood? To know that the two of you will never be able to be together without him trying to kill you because of a prophecy?" Harry's shoulders slumped. He had forgotten about the prophecy although it was what first had sent Voldemort after him.

"And now is the moment where you are supposed to tell me that the prophecy is false and you made it up to give people hope." Harry said with barely disguised hope in his voice. "No Potter. The prophecy is real enough. I was there when it was made." Harry felt his hope get crushed before it even had enough time to really grow.

Harry bowed his head, refusing to let the headmaster see the tears in his eyes. "I guess there is nothing to do about it. But you do realise that I am the only one who will be able to kill Voldemort. And truth to be told, I do not feel like doing so." To his surprise it did not seem like this piece of news bothered the headmaster at all. "Of course it does not matter, the prophecy fits Longbottom as well and he will be easier to control than you. Soon I will start his training and proclaim him the new Boy Who Lived. It would be made so that your family from the very start followed the dark lord and therefore you managed to cheat us all by using dark magic."

Harry felt his breath get caught in his throat. Through he had not known Neville as well as he wished he had it did not mean that he would wish this for anyone, least of all the clumsy but gentle Gryffindor. From potion class Harry knew that the shy boy would not deal well with facing the Wizarding world's shifting mood and opinion.

"There is just one problem with your plan, Dumbledore. Voldemort marked me as his equal, not Neville. There is no way that the prophecy meant him." Harry said smugly. It seemed like the headmaster had not thought this through. "The same night as your parents were killed Longbottom's parents were tortured to insanity by Beletrix Lestrange. It was that way Voldemort marked the boy."

Harry blinked slowly, not quite believing what he was hearing. "You are a sick fuck." He could not stop himself from flinching when Dumbledore suddenly pointed a wand in his direction. "I would watch my tongue if I was you, Potter. No one knows that you are here and even if they did know, they would not lift a finger to help you. For all they know you support the dark lord and therefore you are evil."

"That is a lie. Just wait, one day people will find out the truth and then you will be in deep troubles."

Having had enough Harry reached out for his magic, he was ready to blast Dumbledore out of a window and end this. His eyes widened when he found nothing. No, that was not right, he could feel his magic, but it seemed to be just out of his reach. From the way Dumbledore was watching him Harry had a feeling that the old man knew what was going on. "As you might have found out, these cuffs you are wearing are not like the ones in the muggle world. They restrain your magic so you are not able to use it against others. It was found among Umbridge's things together with a blood quill."

Knowing that Dumbledore was waiting for some kind of a reaction from him Harry kept silent. There was no way that he would give the older wizard what he wanted.

"I have been waiting for this day for many years. Last time I killed you too fast." Harry wondered what time Dumbledore was talking about. The time where the man had killed him in this office, or when Harry had just killed Grindelwald? Time travel was a confusing thing. "I do not know how you survived, but I am not going to make the same mistake as last time. This will be payback for when you killed Gellert." While Dumbledore talked Harry kept an eye at the old man's wand. He did not trust the man not to cast something while he was distracted. "You know what; Grindelwald planned on leaving you so from my point of view it seems like you should be thanking me instead of talking about how to kill me."

Dumbledore's face started to gain an interesting colour which reminded Harry much of when Vernon had been angry in his childhood. The thought sent shivers down Harry's spine. Despite the fact that he had gotten his revenge Harry could still feel the fear for his uncle from when he had been a child. "You are wrong. Gellert was loyal to me, and would never have thought of leaving me. It is a lie, and I am going to make you regret your words."

Harry's eyes narrowed. "Just what do you think you can do to me? You have already turned my friends against me, I do not care about the Dursleys, so it does not matter if you do anything to them, and Voldemort already wants to kill me. So what do you think you can do which have not already been done to me?" Harry stopped yelling and panted heavily when Dumbledore leaned closer.

"I will make you suffer as you have never done before. Before I am finished with you, you will be begging for death, but you will not find release for a very long time. It is all for the greater good, boy."

Harry did not have a chance to dodge the stupedfy sent in his direction and the red beam hit him right in the chest.

**)00(**

Malfoy manor's potion laboratory was much like his own in Spinner's End, only of a better quality. He knew for a fact that several Malfoys had been interested in the art of brewing although only a few of them had showed a talent to try and take it further to become potion masters and mistresses. Even fewer had succeeded in doing so.

One of the first rooms Severus had learned his way to was the potion laboratory. It would have been the first if not because Lucius and Narcissa had been insisting that he came to the bedroom before he was allowed to brew. Not that he minded, after all Severus loved the two Malfoys just as much as he loved potions.

While Severus chopped the newt eyes for the dark lord's potion he could not let go of the feeling that something was going on. Lucius and Narcissa had both been called away last night and they had yet to return. Though he hated to admit it, he could not help but feel slightly worried. All three were aware that one day one of them might not return from a mission. For the last fifteen years it had been Severus who had put himself at risk by working so close with the enemy.

To be the one who had to wait for his lovers to return was not a role which Severus enjoyed. He would rather sit at an Order meeting than being under house arrest and not knowing what was going on.

He let the eyes fall down in the bubbling potion and watched as it turned from acid green to a much lighter nuance.

The last time he had had house arrest was when he had just been a small kid. And then he had snuck out of the house and run over to Lily and her family to spend the next few days there while his father had cooled down. This time he had no chance to sneak out of the manor. Narcissa had made sure of that when she got the houseelves to look after him. She claimed it was because he otherwise tended to forget to take care of himself while they were gone and he was brewing. While that was true he knew it was also so that he could not just disappear while they were away.

He guessed he had brought this over himself He should have give Potter back to his lord when he had found the boy outside the manor's wards. But the thought of Lily's eyes dull because of death had made it impossible for him to breathe and he had acted before he had been able to think this through. He supposed he could have told the dark lord about Potter being in his place when the boy had told him his story. But again Severus had feared that Voldemort would not take the time to listen to what was being said.

All he did had been for Lily and until now it had not done him anything good.

Severus cast a stasis charm at the cauldron and cleaned up the mess he had made by hand. Though he knew he could get it done faster and easier with magic or by letting the houseelves Severus preferred doing it this way. With his lovers away it was not like anyone would be waiting for him on the other side of the door, and it gave him some time to think.

He guessed the punishment could be worse than what he had been sentenced to. At least he was still together with his two lovers and he was still able to brew. Had it been anyone else than him who had done this Severus doubted that they would have gotten away with it alive. Especially now where he knew what Voldemort felt about Potter. But he had a feeling that it would take a long time before he had earned back the dark lord's trust.

When he was satisfied with his work Severus turned his attention to the second potion he was working on. This one was grey and much thicker than the one for Voldemort was. He had been surprised when Voldemort had ordered him to continue working on Potter's cure but decided to take it as a good sign. There was no point in healing someone who was dying. Unless it was to keep them from dying so they could be tortured.

No matter what he hoped that Potter would soon be found. The first potion he had given the brat would only work for a certain time. And knowing Potter and the boy's luck he would go against his advice and use his magic. In best case he would get a fit like those he had already had. In worst case Potter could lay dead some unknown place and they would never know about it.

Severus' thoughts were disturbed when a houseelf decided to pop in. "Lunch is served, naughty master potion master Snape." Severus glared at the houseelf who popped away before he had a chance to say anything. It had not taken long before the houseelves had learned that he was willing to use his tongue on them. It was a good way for him to let out some stress.

He took several deep breaths and made sure that both potions could be left alone for some time. After lunch he would probably take a long bath, something which he had not had much time to while he worked at Hogwarts. At least that was one of the good things about not working anymore or having to spy. He had much more time to take care of himself. And the more he did himself the less he had Narcissa breathing down his neck.

With his black robes swirling around him Severus left the potion laboratory. Hopefully his lovers would return soon, and, if he was lucky, they would bring back good news.

Despite that a army of houseelves lived inside the manor Severus did not meet a single one on his way through the manor. Neither did he see any death eaters but that did not surprise him. With the chance of the minister coming for a visit it would not do for well known death eaters to walk freely around.

At least he did not have to fear that Dumbledore would come for a visit. Hogwarts' headmaster avoided the place as much as he could. Rumours told it had something to do with the ball the Malfoys held every year. It had happened at Lucius' grandfather's time, where Evan James, also known as Harry Potter, had been there.

Although he was not sure about what had happened Severus was sure that it had been great.

As if his feet had a will on their own Severus found himself standing in front of Mortimus' painting. Severus had not bothered with remembering the former lord's real name when the painting had made it clear that it preferred Mortimus to its real name.

"Severus, I have not seen you for some time. Have you decided to go outside? I want to see if I can win the bet about you being a vampire or not." How Lucius could be related to this man Severus had yet to figure out. Mortimus acted nothing like a pureblood lord was supposed to. "No, not this time. I have just been told that lunch is ready and since the potions have reached a stadium were they do not need all my attention I have decided to dine in the dining room."

"Oh, but could you at least step outside for a short moment? If you turn into ash then I win the bet." Severus raised an eyebrow, not sure how he should react to this. "I see. Have a good day, Mortimus. I will have to leave before one of the houseelves pops in and drags me away." The former Malfoy lord nodded slowly. "Yes, those houseelves can be quite insisting. Before you leave, could you perhaps tell me what is going on, Narcissa and Lucius have refused to tell me anything."

Severus cursed softly Mortimus and Potter had been good friends when the former lord Malfoy had still been alive. How would the painting react to the knowledge of Evan and Potter being one and the same person? It was a wonder that his two lovers had managed to keep it a secret from the portrait until now. Mortimus had a disturbing ability to find out about everything. Severus had a feeling that it had something to do with his godson. He would have to have a talk with Draco about spying on other people for a crazy family member. Even if it was for their portrait.

"Unfortunately no. Since the dark lord has ordered me to work on the potion I have not been invited to any of the meetings where the information is given."

"That is a very Slytherin way of answering the question, Severus. I will let go of it for now. But perhaps you would not mind explaining me how the potion is going to restore Voldemort's look."

Though Mortimus had never been one of Voldemort's followers the portrait was loyal to his family. That could be said about all the Malfoys. Besides, potion was a subject which he could talk about for hours unless someone managed to stop him.

"The potion the dark lord ordered me to make will not only restore his old body. For it to be lasting I had to make some changes on an already existing potion. When the dark lord drinks this potion it will force all his soul pierces back in his body and he will once again be a whole man. It is necessary since it was the process of making horcruxes which destroyed his body in the first place."

Severus could not help but feel a little proud of himself. The potion was not an easy one, not even for a potion master. It took one with a lot of experience to make it. He could name several potion masters or mistresses who would not be able to complete the potion. Some of them were even Voldemort's followers.

There was a reason to why he had become the youngest potion master ever.

"I will let you go now, the houseelves are probably wondering about where you are." Severus nodded to the portrait and turned around to leave.

"I have always thought that black as such a dreadful colour." Severus felt like a bucket with fluid had been emptied over him and the substance was covering him from head to toe. "What have you done to me?" Severus managed to get through his lips. It was not the first time he had been pranked by Mortimus' portrait, and he dreaded finding out what the portrait had done to him this time.

"Let us just say that I have decided to make your life a little more colourful. Do not worry, it will come off with time, I think." Severus looked down himself and his black eyes widened. His skin was shifting colours every few seconds.

"As soon as I find out what makes you able to do magic I am going to find a way to counter it." Severus sneered though he put no real feeling behind it. They both knew that he would not do something to harm the portrait. Too many people actually liked the old Malfoy to not get along with the idea. They loved the portrait through he often failed to see why.

Mortimus' laughter followed Severus all the way to the dining room where a nervous and shocked houseelf was waiting for him. Luckily the houseelf was not stupid enough to comment on his changing skin colour. Severus doubted that it would survive if it did so and he hated to explain Narcissa why yet another one of their houseelves had gone missing while he had been the only living person in the manor.

**)00(**

When Harry awoke stone floor was the first thing he saw and he was chilled to the bone. Swearing softly he pushed his sore body up in a sitting position, wincing when he moved. He wondered how long he had been on the floor. The whole left side of his face was numb and sore. When he slowly straightened his back, multiple cracks could be heard.

Looking around Harry found that he was in something which looked much like the cell in Malfoy manor. But Dumbledore would probably not have put him there. After all, the world was supposed to think of him as dead and the man probably wanted to deal with him himself.

Therefore Harry guessed he was still at Hogwarts. After all, the castle had been build over a thousand years ago; it would be no surprise if there really were dungeons.

His stomach growled, reminded Harry that it was a long time since he last had gotten something to eat. But since there were no windows near him Harry had no idea of what time of the day it was and even then he did not know how long he had been out of it. The sound of his stomach echoed off the walls around him, and made it sound louder than it really was. It sounded like a growling animal, and Harry giggled. With all what he had been through it would not surprise him if there really was some kind of a monster down in Hogwarts' dungeons.

He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, feeling tired despite the fact that he had just awoken. Once again he tried to reach his magic, only to come up with nothing. He could feel it twist but it would not move under his will.

He swore out loud.

The cuffs around his wrists were still blocking his magic and unless he got them off he would be nothing more than a muggle. That was not a pleasant thought given the situation he was in.

Luckily he was still wearing his necklace. If he was about to die he would still have the jewellery with him. That was the only good thing he could think of right now. It was unlikely that Dumbledore had let him have the necklace with him. The headmaster had probably tried to remove the necklace while he had been out of it. Luckily Harry had placed a charm on it which would shock anyone who touched the necklace without his permission. That was a good way to make sure that his things were left alone.

The sound of voices which moved in his direction got Harry to shoot up fast. Harry hit his head against the wall behind him. Just what he needed. People who would stare at him as if he was an animal in a zoo. Perhaps it could work to his advantage if he could get them to let him out and take off the cuffs which were still blocking his magic.

As the footsteps came closer, Harry tried to push himself to his feet but he had no success. His body was still numb from the cold from sleeping at the stone floor.

A sharp light lit up his surroundings and Harry felt his eyes starting to water. He blinked several times to clear his view and when he finally got his sight back Hermione and Ron were standing on the other side of the bars.

Harry stared at his friends, not sure of what he should do. He wanted nothing more than to grin and greet them but the cell he was in reminded him too much of what he had been going through. Could he really trust them?

They had not changed much since Harry had last seen them in Diagonal Alley. Both were dressed in their Hogwarts robes which confirmed his theory about being at Hogwarts. It was unlikely that Dumbledore would let them out of school in the middle of school time.

Hermione was standing behind Ron and looked anywhere else than at him. It was almost as if she was scared of meeting his gaze. Harry took a deep breath, it was time for his act. Hopefully it would work and he would soon be out of this place.

He smiled. "Do you guys think you can help me out?" He stood and limped over to the bars. His body pickled when the blood started running. Both of them were watching him warely. "Harry?" Hermione's voice trembled slightly as she looked at him. None of them looked like they had done when he had seen them the other day. He wondered which part of it was an act. Were they hiding their true feelings from Dumbledore? Perhaps he could for once be lucky and not have lost his best friends.

Harry looked up and met their gazes. "Please get me out of here." He pleaded, nearly whining, though he told himself that he would never do such a thing." Harry's heart sank when he saw Ron's smirk. It was something which did not broad well for him. "Dumbledore warned us that you would try and convince us to let you out."

His green eyes darted between his former friends faces. Ron was wearing a smug expression while Hermione worried her lip between her teeth. "Did Dumbledore send you down here, or did you sneak down without his permission?" His voice was cold and barred for feelings of any kind. It helped he had spent so much time together with a Malfoy. One could not do so without learning a little from them.

Ron glared. "Dumbledore told us that you had used dark magic to survive him. It was stupid of you to come back. Luckily Dumbledore is too powerful for you to handle, Potter." Harry ignored the redhead and looked over at Hermione who had yet to say something. He could not remember a time where Hermione let Ron do all the talking. But it seemed like much had changed while he had been gone.

"Listen to me when I am talking to you." Slowly Harry turned his head and met the other boy's gaze head on. "I dislike being yelled at, Weasel. We are no longer friends, as you have clearly stated by using my surname first. Since we are not friends anymore I would like you to leave me alone since we have nothing more to talk about. But, if you are willing to answer my question, I will allow you to stay. Otherwise, I wish you a good day."

When none of the Gryffindors moved, Harry continued glaring at them. "Where is Dumbledore?" Once he got out of there he would make sure that the headmaster got what he deserved. "He is out helping people. After all, someone has to save us all from Voldemort. It is not like a traitor like you would ever be able to understand such a thing. So answer my question, how did you survive the killing curse again? This time there was no one to sacrifice themselves for you."

Getting tired of listening to Ron, Harry turned his back to the duo and walked back to the wall farthes away. Dumbledore had probably sent them down to him to show him that he truly was alone. He probably thought that their opinion meant anything to him.

And though Harry hated to admit it, it actually did. But Harry was not going to show them how much it actually bugged him. His time away from this time and all what he knew had taught him much. If this had been before he had been sent back in time Harry would probably already have told them everything he knew because he had been asked to. But living with Tom had taught him a thing or two. He just had to remember them instead of running head first into something without thinking about the consequences.

Sliding down the wall Harry bit back a wince. He guessed he was going to be sore for some time. It was doubtful that Dumbledore would place a bed in his cell to make it more comfortable for him. He would just have to make do with the floor.

Harry closed his eyes and turned out Ron's rant. It was not like the redhead was any threat to him. As he had told Dumbledore; what could be done to him which had not already been done? The only good thing he could think of right now was that it soon would be over. Since Snape's potion was not working anymore his sickness would continue. Harry guessed that he one day would pass out and simply not wake up again.

Right now that seemed like a blessing to him.

Harry had a knot in his stomach. They were not friends anymore. If they were Ron and Hermione would have been working on getting him out instead of blaming him for things which he knew nothing about. It seemed like life would always be unfair to him.

"Come on Hermione, it is obviously that he thinks he is too good for us to even answer our questions." Ron said with a huff and left before the girl even had time to answer him.

Harry cracked an eye open and looked at Hermione. For the first time he found her looking at him and he smiled weakly to encourage her. Why he did so, Harry had no idea. For all he knew Hermione was just like Ron, but she had not blamed him for anything until now. On the other hand she had done nothing to defend him when Ron had started shouting at him.

They watched each other in silence until Ron's footstep had faded into nothing. She opened her mouth several times before she seemed to find the words. Had it been any other situation Harry might have found it amusing. He could not remember a single time where Hermione had had troubles with finding words.

"You know, I had my doubts." Hermione spoke softly and it was hard to hear her. She acted nothing like the girl he had met the other day. "At first I did not believe it when Dumbledore told us, that you had turned dark. I mean, I met you at the train and there never was a sign that you would join You Know Who. After all, he was the one who killed your family. I thought... I did not know what to think. Where did you go?" She wiped away her tears. "Where did the boy go who used to bug me about borrowing my homework because he had forgotten to make his own? Where is the boy who would try and beat up those who called me a mudblood despite the fact that they were bigger and older than him?"

Harry looked away no longer able to meet Hermione's gaze. "Even if I told you, it is not like you would ever believe what I said, Hermione. You, Ron, all the others. You are all innocent. You have no idea about what a war do to people, how it changes them. Even when one does not take part in it, they are still changed." Harry looked shortly back at the girl before he looked away again. "Believe it or not, Hermione, I grew up. I can only hope that others also will do so before it is too late for them. Just remember, that because someone is powerful, that it does not always mean that they are right or know the difference between good and bad. Not everything is black and white."

He knew that the girl was watching him now, waiting to hear what else he had to say, although she probably did not like what he was saying about the headmaster. Since she had yet to protest against what he had said, Harry allowed himself a small slimmer of hope. Perhaps he had not lost all his friends.

"If our friendship ever meant anything to you, Hermione, you would help me with getting out of this cell."

"And what would you do once you were out?"

"Kill Dumbledore." Harry saw no reason to not be honest.

She was silent for a long time. "I do not think I can do so Harry, I am so sorry." Harry glared at her. "Then leave, and do not expect for me to come and help you when it all starts to burn around you."

She nodded and left, dragging her feet after her.

**)00(**

Harry guessed only a few hours had passed after Hermione had left before he got another visit. Down in the dungeon it was impossible for him to tell how time passed without his magic or any windows.

The only thing which told him that time still went on was that he was no longer hungry. Instead his stomach felt numb as if he was back at the Dursleys and not being feed again. This time there would be no care packs from his friends to make sure that he did not die from hunger.

Opening his eyes the first thing Harry saw was bright purple and muddy green robes. Knowing only one person who would dress like that Harry glared while he straightened his back so he was no longer leaning against the stone wall behind him. It seemed like no matter what he did he would be cold as long as he was in this cell.

Harry did not need to see anything else than the robes to know who was watching him. "How long do you think you will be able to keep me here?"

"As long as it is necessary. You see, I have found out something interesting while you were gone, Potter." Harry could not help but shiver, something said him that he would not like whatever Dumbledore was about to tell him. "There is a reason why Voldemort did not die the day he went after you. It is my belief that he has made horcruxes."

Harry frowned. He remembered having read about them in one of the book he had once borrowed from Mortimus. "Tom would never do something like that."

"After your death Riddle changed a great deal, but only I saw through his act as the perfect student. After all, one can never trust a Slytherin."

He closed his eyes for a short moment to calm his thoughts. A horcrux was an object which a dark witch or wizard had hidden a fragment of their own soul for the purpose of attaining immortality. As Dumbledore said, it explained perfectly well how Voldemort had been able to return to live when he was supposed to be dead.

Opening his eyes once again Harry the headmaster's gaze. "If that is the case you have no chance to win this war. Who knows how many he has made? There is no way that you will be able to find all of them. And even then you will have to find a way to destroy them." Harry could not help but feel smug. "But that is where you are wrong. You have already destroyed one of them."

Harry felt the blood draining from his head. "Wh-what do you mean."

"Do you remember Riddle's diary? It was a horcrux." Harry felt as if someone had hit him. He knew he could not just have let Ginny die, but thought of killing a part of Tom hurt more than he had thought it would. The least he could do was to make sure that Dumbledore would not be able to do more harm than he already had.

"Just you wait, Dumbledore. When I get these cuffs off of me, you are going to regret it. You will not win this war."

"We will see about that, crucio."

Incredible pain took over his body. He hit the ground, shaking uncontrollably as white hot knives pierced every inch of his skin. His teeth clenched together so hard that he was sure that they would breake.

Harry wanted to scream and maybe he really did. He was not sure. The only thing he was able to focus on was the pain he was feeling. He trashed around on the ground as the curse took its toll. It felt like his head would crack.

Suddenly, before the pain caused him to black out the curse was lifted and Harry lay on his side, breathing like he had been running for miles without rest.

"You still believe that he cares about you? Think about, Voldemort wants nothing more than to kill you. Perhaps he will be willing to end the war if I just hand you over. That way you will be tortured by the one you once saw as family. How do you think of that Potter? I know I would enjoy every moment of it."

"Yeah, but you are also a masochist."

This time he was not taken by surprise when the pain came. He had expected it and actually planned for Dumbledore to react like that. Anything would be better than to listen to Dumbledore while the old man talked about Tom. Although feeling the cruciatus curse made him hate himself and swear for causing himself this, Harry could not help but be proud of himself. Dumbledore could do what he wanted. He would not bow or lick his boot. Not even in dead. Not even if he died of this he would ever let the bastard get what he wanted.

He was in bliss when the pain stopped. It was suddenly comfortable lying at the stone floor. He would not complain about it.

The only sound to be heard was Harry's breathing. Not that he cared. The only thing he knew was that the pain had stopped, and that was what was important. "Perhaps this will teach you some manners, Potter. You are going to stay here for a long time. Once I am finished with you, you will not even be able to remember your own name. You will regret that you killed Gellert. I will make sure to pay you back with interest."

Harry knew that Dumbledore was still talking, but the voice disappeared and he saw only darkness.

**)00(**

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty." Grabbe called as he tried to look into an amour. Draco rolled his eyes at Grabbe's actions though he could not say that Goyle was much better. Currently the other Slytherin was down on his knees and looking under the carpet in hope of finding the lost kitten.

They had awoken early this morning to the sound of Pansy's scream. It did not take long before they found the reason to this.

Draco almost regretted finding the kitten and taking it back with him to Hogwarts. If not for it he could have been sleeping in his bed right now instead of wandering around in the castle looking for the kitten. Of course it had been the only way to stop Pansy from pestering them all.

"Guys, I doubt that Beleza will be hiding in such places." The two boys stared at him as if they had no idea about what he was talking about. As far as Draco knew it might just be the case. "But Pansy said that we should look everywhere. Grabbe said and Goyle nodded. "Yeah, and Pansy is scary if things are not done the way she wants it." Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I know, but I doubt that Beleza will be here. For all we know it could have found out where the kitchen is and is being fattened up by the houseelves right now."

When they had found out that Beleza was missing Pansy had ordered them to go searching for the kitten. She feared that some Gryffindors might have found and was torturing it right now. Of course she had walked of together with Blaise and left him alone with Grabbe and Goyle. At least he had someone to search through the dirty places though he wished that they had not taken the girl's orders so serious when she had said that they should search everywhere.

"Hey Draco, how old can a cat get?" Grabbe's voice cut through his thoughts. "Sixteen maybe twenty if the owner is taking good care of their pet."

"But was Beleza not Riddle's pet?" Grabbe continued while Goyle nodded eagerly. "Yeah, it makes it over fifty years old. I wonder how it has managed to live for so long and stay a kitten."

"I have an idea."

Draco nodded to Grabbe to get the boy to continue. He could already feel a headache announce it arrival and figured that the sooner they got over with this the sooner he would be able to get a potion against it.

"I have an idea."

"You have already said that once." Grabbe did not seem to let Draco's tone bother him. "When we find Beleza why not give it to the dark lord. He wants to live forever and maybe the kitten is willing to share its secrets with him."

"I am sure that if lord Voldemort gives it some milk it will be happy to tell him. My sister has a cat and it loves milk."

Draco was about to yell at the two boys for their stupidity when the sound of raised voices reached his ears. He made sign for the others to be silent and follow with him. Luckily Grabbe and Goyle were used to follow his orders and not ask any questions. They were happy as long as they did not have to think about more than what they would have for dinner.

The part of Hogwarts they were in was not used any longer. But it was just as clean as any other part of the castle. Draco guessed it was because that couples sneaked down here to get a little alone time together. That or the houseelves could not stand the knowledge of having dirt in the place where they worked.

But the sounds coming from somewhere in the darkness did not sound like something which came from two people loving each other. It more sounded like cries of pains.

The three Slytherins slowly sneaked forward. Draco was able to move faster and silently with Grabbe and Goyle following closely behind him. They knew better than to let their leader wander on his own.

Draco wondered what made those pained screams and why he was walking in the direction they came from. He was a Slytherin, not a Gryffindor. But the Slytherin in him wanted to know what was going on. Too many creatures had been inside the school's walls in the time he had been there. A three headed dog, if rumours were to be trusted, a troll and a basilisk. If he found that Dumbledore had let yet another thing come inside it would give his father enough reason to sack the old wizard.

It did not take long before they reached a spot where they were able to see what was going on. When Draco took in the scene he held a hand over his mouth to stop himself from saying something which would give their position away.

Ronald Weasel was standing in the middle of the badly lit corridor, facing what looked like a cell. Since Hogwarts had been built a thousand years ago Draco was not surprised that it had dungeons. He was sure that they had other ways of punishing the students at that time. The red haired boy lowered his wand after just having cast a curse. Draco wished he had heard which one it had been so that he knew what would happen.

A pained scream dragged his attention away from the Weasel. Potter lay at the floor on the other side of the bars. His skin was pale and the clothes were ripped into pieces and looked like rags. The black hair reached his hips and mattered with dirt and something which looked sticky.

What shocked him more than seeing wonder boy alive was the blood which was dripping from big wounds which had suddenly showed up on the black haired boy's body. He knew the curse, it was one his uncle Severus had made in his school time. Severus had taught him it in case there should be a time where he would need it but this was the first time where Draco actually got to see how the curse worked.

Sectumsempra worked like an invisible sword, it slashed the target repeatedly. The injuries appeared to follow the movements of the caster's wand and from the looks of it, it did not seem like Weasel had been holding back. The black haired boy's head rolled back and the hair moved away from his forehead.

"Draco is that not." He clamped a hand over Goyle's mouth before the boy could say another word. He did not want Weasel to find out that he was not alone until he had found out what was going on. Draco's eyes travelled over to Potter's painting form. The other boy was a mess that much was clear. From where he stood the wounds looked bad but he could not say more before he got a closer look at them.

"Like that, Potter? I found it in a potion book I borrowed from professor Slughorn. Some guy called Half Prince came up with it. Whoever the guy was then he knew what he was doing." Hearing the Weasel talk about his godfather like that. Severus had inverted the spell for self defense, it was not meant to be used like this although he could see how useful it actually was.

Deciding that he would not watch this anymore, Draco cast a stupedfy at Weasel and stepped out of the hiding place. "What are the two of you waiting for? Help me open the bars so we can get out of here." Draco snapped at the two boys when Grabbe and Goyle just stood and watched him with open mouths. His voice snapped the two boys out of their state and they rushed over to help him.

Getting tired of trying to open the door to the cell the old way, Draco took forth his wand. He knew that professor Dumbledore probably had placed spells which would alert him should something like this happen. It meant that they would have to leave the school. As the situation was he did not mind it the slightest bit. Draco knew that several other Slytherins would follow with him on a later time.

Not waiting for the dust to lay Draco was already at Potter's side. He stopped Grabbe from lifting the boy. "Just give me a moment and then we will be going." Breathing deeply he cast a quick spell which would stop the blood flow and make sure that Potter's injuries did not get worse. Then he stepped aside and allowed Grabbe to lift Potter's still form. It seemed like Potter was out as a light, which was probably for the best. Draco could easily imagine what kind of pain Potter was in. It did not look like sectumsempra was the only curse which Weasel had used on Potter. From the way his body would twist every few minutes it looked like the Cruciatus had been used on him as well.

"Let us get going before anyone finds us." Draco took the lead as Grabbe followed him closely and Goyle was at the end. That way they made sure that Potter was protected for attacks. Draco frowned. He was not sure why he wanted to protect Potter. It was mostly because he wanted some answers. Why had Ron Weasley been torturing his best friend? Why had Dumbledore claimed that Potter was dead and evil when it was obviously not true? There were so many questions and he had yet to find an answer to any of them.

Potter held these answers and Draco would keep him alive until he knew them. He would have to hand the boy over to the lord. That there was no question about. There would be hell to pay should they keep Potter hidden and then be found out.

Draco decided that he would worry about that later on. Right now he had to focus on a way to get out of school. He did not know if he was imagining it but he thought he heard people running through the corridors.

He was not sure what did it but for once luck seemed to be on their side and Draco was able to lead them to a secret entrance which Salazar Slytherin had build in case his snakes ever should need to make a quick exit. Draco was sure that only a few people knew about this entrance.

Draco stopped in front of a snake statue. "Slytherin rules, Gryffindors are fools." Draco watched as the snake statue hissed at them before it moved aside and a small passage came to view. Draco looked inside with a sneer. "It just had to be the day where I am wearing my new robes."

Whatever else he had planned on saying was interrupted by feet moving in their direction. It seemed like someone had found out that Potter was no longer in the cell. "Better get going. I doubt that they will be happy if they find us. This is a party I do not want to stay at." Draco glanced at Potter's still form. The only proof they had that he was still alive was the slow rising of his chest. Otherwise he looked like death had wandered over.

Hearing the footsteps coming closer fast Draco stepped into passage, closely followed by the two other Slytherins. As soon as Goyle had stepped inside the statue fell in place behind them.

Draco cast a lumos, wanting to be able to see where he was going. He had no idea about where the passage would end, but hopefully it would be somewhere safe. Once they were out he would decide what they would do.

**Next: Voldemort and Harry will meet. **

**Until next time. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Beta: ****angelhitomie **

**Disclaimer**: **Harry Potter is not mine *flings self off cliff***

**Mortimus here, the real one, not the one from this story, if you remember me. If you have read the prequel you would remember me, since I am not someone who is to be forgotten.**

**Anyway I am posting this chapter for HuskyWalker since she has been kidnapped by some friends to a tour out in the wild. Don't tell her that I posted this chapter so late, she will kill me. **

**The chapter we all have waited for: Harry and Voldemort meet. Run people, run. It is going to be ugly, I think. Well, you will just have to read to find out.**

**Enjoy.**

Voldemort was not happy. Lucius and Narcissa knew this and they kept their distance to him, thus making his mood worse than it already was.

They had been unable to just apparate to Evan's location since the necklace had not shown where his lover was. So Voldemort had to use the old fashion way although he had not been happy about it. His arse was sore and no broom could bring him to his lover fast enough. To make it all worse it seemed like Evan had managed to get into Hogwarts.

When Lucius had told him Evan's message, Voldemort had silently hoped that his lover would not be able to get in. No matter if he went as Evan or Potter the risk would be great. Unfortunately he had known his lover long enough to know that not much could change his mind and that the boy had a surprisingly big amount of luck. Unfortunately Evan had just as much bad luck as he had of the good.

Voldemort leaned against a tree as he stared at Hogwarts. Thanks to the wards this was the closest they could come without alerting anyone about him being there. It was still early but already he could see some early birds wander out of the castle. A few couples were on their way inside, while they tried to look like they had not spent the whole night outside together.

Thankfully most of the students were too afraid of the beings in the forest to come near. It only meant that there was less risk for them to be spotted by someone while they were trying to come up with a plan.

Voldemort continued glaring at the school while he tried to figure out how to get into the castle without Dumbledore being alerted. For some reason he doubted that Dumbledore would welcome him. And even with the two Malfoys by his side, Voldemort sincerely doubted that it would stop the old goat from doing something.

His red eyes continued seeking out the headmaster's tower. Evan was in there somewhere and it was killing him not knowing what was going on. He wanted to go in and blow something up but the wards would probably not let him go so far before he was thrown out. He had seen the castle's defence shortly after Grindelwald's death.

One of the man's last followers had come to Hogwarts, wanting to revenge the dead wizard by killing the one who was believed to have killed Grindelwald. The man had not even been finished speaking before the castle's defence had been activated. Several of the younger students had had nightmares about the wizard's bloody demise afterwards and no one had dared to get close to the amours a long time after that.

Voldemort glance back at the two Malfoys and barely hiding a scowl. Even when they were out on a rescue/kidnapping mission the two of them had managed to make themselves comfortable. This close to the wards none of them dared to use magic. But that did not stop the houseelves from popping in with things as they waited. There was too many houseelves at Hogwarts for the wards to keep track of every single one of them while keeping track of the students.

Right now Narcissa and Lucius were sitting in comfortable armchairs, which looked like they belonged to their manor, reading books which a houseelf had brought to them. A third chair stood ready for him in case he should want to sit down for a short while. Tea and biscuits were on a little table between the chairs.

But Voldemort did not plan on sitting down. He would not be at ease before he had Evan where his lover belonged. And once he had Evan, he would make sure that his lover would not get the chance to leave him.

If Dumbledore knew that Evan was in the castle he would be watching the wards, wondering if anyone would be following the ward maker. Voldemort was not stupid. He knew that Dumbledore would have set the wards to alarm him should the dark lord placed a foot at the school ground.

Though Voldemort hated the thought of waiting and what could have happened to Evan in the meantime there was no way around it. Lucius would go in later today and visit his son. Afterwards all the Slytherins would be looking for Evan or a black kitten. From Evan's message he knew that his lover would go in as Beleza, but that was not the same as saying as he would stay in his animagus form.

He snapped out of his thoughts when sound a little deeper into the forest caught his attention. Looking over at the Malfoy couple he saw that he was not the only one who had heard the sounds. Both Narcissa and Lucius had abandoned their books and held their wands ready in their hands. Despite their relaxed attitude all of them were aware of the dangers of being in the Forbidden Forest. No one knew for sure what kind of creatures was sneaking around among the trees.

With wands in their hands they abandoned their camp and headed deeper into the forest. Voldemort knew that it could be several different beings who they were trying to sneak upon. Human language was a common language used by many being, but he did not feel nervous. Most of those who spoke human tongue and could have been dangerous were already his allies.

"Who would have thought that we would end here of all places? Salazar really knew what he was doing when he created that passage. We are on the other side of the wards and there is no chance that we are being spotted from the castle." Voldemort frowned at the sight in front of him, not sure if he could believe his own eyes.

The Malfoy heir together with Crabbe and Goyle Jr. stood in the middle of a clearing. They were all dressed in their Hogwarts robes with Slytherin coloured ties and were covered in dust and dirt. Voldemort knew that the boys could not have passed them without being noticed. It left him wondering how they had managed to get this far. Besides, it did not seem like they had thought they would end in the Forbidden Forest.

All thoughts about having found a possible way into Hogwarts was cut short when the boys moved and his eyes went to the boys. Or rather the person who lay limp in Goyle Jr. arms.

"Evan."

Two of the Slytherins raised their wand at the sound of his voice but Voldemort paid them no attention. He knew that none of them would be stupid enough to try and do him anything. So instead he focussed fully on Evan and decided to let Lucius and Narcissa deal with the other boys.

If not for the chest's slight movement he would have believed Evan dead. The wizard was clad in dark robes; obviously the robes had been Severus' and had been shrunk so Evan could use them. It was doubtful that the potion master would want the robes back now. The robes were sliced several places, as if someone had used a knife on them, on blood oozed from the many wounds. Evan was pale as a dead, and Voldemort guessed it was because of the blood loss. Shivers ran through his body, and Voldemort had used the Cruciatus enough times to know the after effect which showed on someone who had been hold under the curse for a long time.

"Give him to me." At first none of the youngsters reacted, and Voldemort snapped. He wanted Evan close so he could make sure that his lover would be safe. "Hand him over now." The hash tone seemed to knock the boys out of the shock they were in by seeing him. Quickly Draco Malfoy and Crabbe bowed, unfortunately Goyle followed their example without a thought about the person he was currently holding.

Voldemort stopped his lover's fall with a pulse of magic. Evan hovered just a few inches over the ground and Voldemort breathed out in relief. Without taking his eye of Evan he walked over to his unconscious lover and gathered him up in his arms. Evan was too thin and pale for his liking, but Voldemort planned on changing that. Soon Evan would be back to his healthy and carefree self. Just as he had been fifty years ago.

"Lucius, take these young men with you, find out what happened. Narcissa, you will bring Severus with you to my chambers. Evan is going to need all the help he can get. I will deal with you later." Voldemort added the last part while glaring at Goyle Jr., who looked terrified. Though Voldemort had no plans about harming the boy too much, after all he had helped with getting Evan brought to him, he would have to be punished for what he had nearly done to his lover.

Without a second glance at the people around him, Voldemort apparated away. He knew his orders would be followed without him needing to be there, so he felt no need to stay. Besides, Evan needed him more right now.

Voldemort apparated directly into his chambers, not wanting to waste more time than he already had. Nagini, who had been sleeping by the fireplace lifted her head and glared at him until she caught sight of the still form he was holding. "**Is that**?"

"**Yes, Evan has finally come home, and this time he will stay with us. But he is wounded and sick, so Narcissa and Severus will come by and make sure that he is okay**."

Nagini followed him into the bedroom and Voldemort let her. He knew that Nagini had missed Evan just as much as he had.

Carefully he placed Evan in the middle of his big bed and stepped away. It looked just like he had imagined it would. Evan's hair was spread as a dark halo. He had been right when he had thought that Evan would look great in Slytherin colours. He smiled at the thought of Evan dressed in green and silver.

Not wanting to risk hurting Evan more than he had already been Voldemort simply banished the black robes. It was not like his lover would need those again. When he would be dressed it would only be in robes of the best quality, provided by him. He would prefer Evan staying in the chambers so he would be the only one to enjoy the view of his body, but Voldemort already knew that it would never be the case. Evan would never accept it and fight him until he got it as he wanted. But until Evan was fully healed he would not get a choice in that matter.

Evan was a mess. Now where the clothes were gone there was nothing that stopped Voldemort from getting a clear view of the damage dealt to his lover. Seeing the bruised skin and the wound made Voldemort's anger flare up. Whoever had dared to hurt his Evan would have to pay. He was sure that Lucius was listening to the boys' story right now. Afterwards the Malfoy lord would come to him and tell him what he had found out.

And after that, Voldemort would decide who he should kill.

Voldemort forced his attention away when he heard the doors to his chambers open. Although he knew that only a selected few were able to come into his rooms, he could not be too careful. Especially not when he had Evan to protect. As it was now Evan would not be able to defend himself.

Seeing Severus and Narcissa come through the door Voldemort stepped away from the bed although it was not willingly. But he knew that Evan would need their help and both of them would work better if he was not hovering over them. Knowing that Voldemort sat down in a chair in one of the corners. This way he could see what happened over in the bed while he kept an eye at the door. Nagini lay curled at his feet. He knew without any words that the snake wanted to wrap herself around Evan to protect him from further harm. At the same time they both knew that it would not be possible for the time being.

It did not take long before he realised that something was wrong. "What are you doing?" Other than a few diagnostic spell and a single potion none of them had used magic or other potions. Instead they had started threading his wound the muggle way.

"The diagnostic spells show that Potter has used his magic even though I ordered him not to. Thus he undid all the work the first potion I gave him had made and we are back at the starting point. Unfortunately the potion does not react well with other potions or with magic used on him. I will later make a cream which will make sure that he does not scar. By putting it on his skin it will not interact with the potion I gave him."

Voldemort nodded, not taking his eyes of Evan's unmoving body. "What is his status?" This time it was Narcissa who answered him since Severus had gone back to poking Evan's wounds. "Nothing is broken, which is quite lucky. As far as I know he has been hold under the Cruciatus, it is where the shaking comes from. The bruises seem to come from falling several times and I would like him to gain some weight before he leaves the bed. It is the wounds which are giving me troubles. I have never seen anything like this. It looks like it was made with a knife but the spell said it was done with magic."

"Sectumsempra."

Severus' quiet voice drew their attention to the dark clad man who stood leaned over Evan as an enormous bat. Voldemort stopped himself from glaring at the potion master. If not because Severus was already in a relationship and Evan needed him, he would never have allowed another man to get this close to what was his.

"What did you say?" Voldemort spoke as quiet as Severus had but his voice could easily be heard in the silent room. "Sectumsempra is a curse I came up with in my school time, although I have never used it unless it was absolutely necessary. As you can see the curse work like knives. The damage done depends on how the user moves his or her wand. The more movement, the more damage is inflicted."

"And how, prey to tell, has anyone found out about this curse?"

Severus breathed deeply and closed his eyes for a short moment as if he had to think before he dared to open his mouth. Voldemort let him. He had known Severus for many years and knew very well how the man worked. "I wrote the spell down in one of my old potion books. Unfortunately the book was lost before I left Hogwarts and I have not been able to locate it."

Voldemort was far from satisfied with the answer but he knew it would have to do for now. He would get someone to find out who had Severus' book. And when he found out who had used the curse on his lover there would be hell to pay.

All further talk was stopped when Voldemort heard the doors to his chambers open for the second time. "**Nagini, watch over Evan and make sure that nothing happens to him. You have my permission to bite if someone tries to do him something. But remember, do not kill.**" Nagini hissed, clearly not satisfied with the order but Voldemort knew that she would follow it.

He found Lucius waiting for him on the other side of the door. The blonde's face was grim and Voldemort knew that he would not like what the blonde had to tell him.

They sat down in the chairs near the fireplace and Voldemort summoned some tea. After all Narcissa and Lucius had been interrupted before they could finish their tea in the Forbidden Forest.

"Tell me what you have found out."

**)00(**

Albus was furious.

Not only had he found out that Ronald Weasley had been stunned but the Potter boy was also missing from his cell. Unfortunately the youngest Weasley boy had had his back turned to his attackers so he had had no chance of seeing who they were.

Albus already knew that Potter would be nowhere to be found at the castle. Somehow he and his rescuer had managed to get out before he had managed to close the wards. And afterwards he had been unable to follow after them because McGonagall had been there, demanding to know why he suddenly had closed the wards as if they were under attack.

He had been able to play his old senile person and after offering her a lemon drop she had stopped trying to get an answer out of him. Sometimes it was good to be viewed as the half crazy headmaster who was powerful but would never dream of harming anyone.

Right now he was busy cursing the person called Hermione Granger in his mind. He had always seen the girl as a bright girl, but also as someone who would trust him because he was an authority figure. It had made her so easy to manage around.

The girl had arrived at his office early this morning, asking questions and suddenly doubting his words about Potter being evil. Not wanting to turn her against him Albus had used a long time to make sure that she was still true to him and his case. When she finally had left his office she once again could be counted as one of his sheep, and he had gone down in the dungeon, only to find that Potter was missing from his cell.

After the Weasley family had broken the marriage contract with the Malfoy family the family had been outcasts in the Wizarding world. Albus, being who he was, had used this to his own advantage. It was because of him that any of the Weasleys were able to get a respectable job. It was he who had made sure that Arthur and Molly had met and later got married. The whole family depended on him and were some of his most loyal people.

It had not been hard to convince them that Potter was evil. After all his word was law in their eyes.

Ronald Weasley was a mistake on his part. Albus now knew that he should never have told the ginger haired boy about Potter still being alive, let alone let him know where the boy was. But the thought of the look in Potter's face when he realised that his former friends hated him had been priceless. And even better had it been when he had given Ronald Weasley permission to take his anger out on Potter. It was nothing more than what the boy deserved for what he had done to him.

Some of the spells the Weasley had used was even some that he himself did not know. Albus wondered where the boy had learned those spells. He had never seen Ronald Weasley as someone who liked studying, usually is was Granger who did his homework. And he knew that such curses could not be found in any books in the library. It seemed like he would have to call the boy up to find out more about those curses.

Besides, he deserved some kind of punishment for letting Potter get away under his watch.

**)00(**

Pain.

It was clawing through his body like a wild animal, fighting to break through his skin. He tried to breathe deeply to lessen the feeling but it did not seem to help. Harry wanted to curl into himself but his body felt too heavy to move just yet. Instead he was forced to lie still as the beast rampaged through his body.

His head felt like it was going to explode soon and his whole body ached, like he had just had one of his fits. Only, this time it was not only his lungs which ached but his whole body. He felt like he had been stabbed repeatedly.

With a hoarse groan Harry tried to roll over on his side to ease some of the discomfort, but the pain seemed to be tearing through his body worse than it already was so he opted to lay still. He wanted to hug himself, but his arms lay useless at his side, to heavy and too sore to move.

Slowly he became aware of a hand running through his hair in a comforting manner. It was done in the same way he imagined a parent would do to their child after a nightmare, or how someone would comfort their lover when the person was feeling sick.

Harry leaned into the cool touch. He wanted the person to take away the pain but could not get his mouth to open and say the words.

The last thing he remembered was being in the cell and Ron was torturing him. The thought sent shivers down his spine and Harry winced at the movements. He wanted to sink back in the darkness where nothing could touch him, but the hand in his hair stopped him from doing so.

Harry was split between moving away and leaning into the touch. On one hand it was comforting and he liked the knowledge of not being alone. But he wanted peace and he wanted to forget what had happened to him. It was hard to believe that Ron actually had cursed him. And not just one, but several times. True, Ron had always been jealous of him but Harry had thought that their friendship meant more for him. Obviously that was not the case.

He whimpered softly when the hand let go of his hair. Nearly immediately the hand returned and Harry sighed content. It did not matter who was doing it as long as they did not stop. He could lay here forever if they would just continue petting his hair.

**)00(**

"Remus!" Having already heard the arrival of his mate and therefore he turned around with a smile. He missed civilisation but living together with the pack had helped him a great deal. Already he felt more in tune with his wolf and healthier than he had ever been before.

He was slowly starting to learn to like his new life. And Fenrir was not the worst mate he could have had. One good thing he could think of was that the man worshipped the ground he walked on. The only thing which was missing was his pup.

The thought of what could have happened to his pup had given him many sleepless nights. The last news Fenrir had brought home was that Harry had spent time with Severus after his pup had managed to escape Malfoy manor. After that no one seemed to know what had happened. At least no one told him anything.

Remus greeted Fenrir with a soft smile. "I thought you were supposed to go to Severus to get some cold potions to the pups." Despite the warm weather some of the younger pups had still managed to catch a mean cold which just not seemed to go away. "Yes, but Lucius arrived with his own and two other pups and Narcissa dragged Severus with her shortly after that."

Remus nodded and frowned. "But are the pups not supposed to be at school? Unless they have been suspended or something had happened with their families the students are not allowed to leave school outside the holidays. The rules were made in 1739 when." His rant was cut short when Fenrir placed a big hand over his mouth and muffled his words.

"Easy there. No reason to go all professor on me Remus. I have yet to tell you the great news." Remus leaned away from Fenrir's hand and looked up at his mate. "Well, what is it that you have to tell me?" He stepped closer again so their chests were touching, for once not caring about those around them. After all people in the pack could get a lot more intimate than they were right now.

Fenrir leaned forward until his breath ghosted the other werewolf's ear. "From what I have learned the dark lord has found your pup. I am not sure where he has him or how he is, but trust me, as soon as I know I will tell you." Remus' eyes watered and he took a deep breath to calm himself.

His pup was alive and fine. Well, not exactly fine. After all he was with the dark lord. Though Remus was technically a supporter of the dark lord by being a part of Fenrir's pack it did not mean that he trusted the man. Especially not with his pup. Voldemort had been after his pup for as long as he could remember. But from what Fenrir had told the dark lord knew that his pup had been Evan James.

"Promise me, that you will tell me as soon as you know anything." He spoke softly and looked Fenrir directly into his eyes. The bigger werewolf nodded solemnly. "Of course, anything for you, Remus."

**)00(**

When Harry awoke again he was too confused to try and open his eyes right away or to move. The last thing he remembered was being in a cell in Hogwarts' dungeon while getting the daylight cursed out of him.

But somehow he could not get the soft cloud he was laying in to fit into the cell. Last time he checked there had been nothing in the cell. Especially not something as comfortable as what he was laying on right now.

Harry sighed, wanting to go back to sleep. But his mind told him, that he had already slept long enough. He needed to awake before his bladder exploded. Although Harry knew that he was a pity sight he had not wed himself since he was two years old. Dudley had first stopped using diaper just before they had started at school.

Deciding that he needed to know where he was, because it certainly did not smell like his cell, Harry tried to open his eyes. It took several attempts before he finally succeeded and when he finally managed to open his eyes, Harry hurried closing them again.

Wherever he was it was certainly not the cell. His surroundings were far too light for him to see anything. Harry groaned lowly and thought he heard a distant pop, although he was not sure.

After a little while Harry decided to take the chance and try again. He needed to find out where he was so he could try and figure out what kind of torture Dumbledore might have in mind for him. It was not like he could do much about it but at least he could try and prepare himself for whatever was about to happen.

It took several tries before Harry finally was able to keep his eyes open without them being filled with tears because of the brightness.

What he lay on was not a soft cloud as he first had thought it was but a king sized bed done in Slytherin green and Ravenclaw blue colours. The bed was big and the mattress soft, he would not mind staying there for an eternity. But Harry knew that it would not be the case. He had to find out where he was and what had happened. It would not be like Dumbledore to put him in such a room. He doubted such a room could be found at Hogwarts.

Therefore it had to be a trap of some kind.

Slowly Harry tried to sit up, only to yelp and fell back to the pillow when pain flared through his body. Looking down himself Harry frowned. The part of his chest which he could see was covered in bandage. Why Dumbledore would have covered his wounds like this Harry did not know. It would be far easier to just use a potion to get rid of the wounds. But then again what reason would the old headmaster have to heal him? Last time Harry had checked the old goat had wanted him tortured and dead.

He turned his head from side to side to get a better view of the room he was in. It was clearly someone's bedroom and from the lack of orange and mismatched colours he would dare and say that this was neither Ron's nor Dumbledore's rooms. On the other hand, since both of them hated him, like the rest of the Wizarding world, it was unlikely that he would ever get to see their rooms.

It looked a lot like he had imagined a pureblood's bedroom would look like. Actually, other than the lack of mess and the lighter colours he would say that it reminded him a lot of Sirius' old bedroom, only nicer.

Harry paled. All the purebloods he could think of, wanted nothing more to kill him or to hand him over to their master so he could be killed by him. No matter where he was it was not good for him and he needed to get away from here before someone found out that he had awoken. He did not fancy another torture session.

Although his body protested against it Harry slowly managed to get himself up in a sitting position and his legs over the edge of the bed. To his surprise the floor was warm so at least he did not have to worry about getting cold feet while he tried to find a way out of this mess.

Pushing the cover aside Harry was relieved to see that he at least was dressed in pyjamas bottoms. He blushed fierily when he realised that to get him in these he had had to be undressed. Somehow he doubted that whoever had done it had bothered using the spell madam Pomfrey usually used whenever he had managed to land himself in the hospital wing.

He pushed himself up from the bed and grimaced at the pain the movement caused. He breathed deeply and bit his lip hard to stop himself from making any sound. Since he had no idea about where his captors were he would have to be careful not to draw their attention to him.

When he was sure that he would not fall, Harry took a tentative step away from the bed and the safety it had provided him with. His body swayed and protested loudly against the movements but Harry paid it no heed. He needed to get away before someone came around to check up on him. Hopefully it would take some time because as it was right now a slug would probably be faster than him.

Pain in his scar made Harry hiss, he clutched the scar as he fell to the ground. As soon as he hit the floor he curled into a protective ball, not caring if he was upsetting his wounds. When a cold hand touched his skin Harry did not even bother to try and hold back the scream which forced its way out of him. He only knew of one person who could make him feel like this. How he had ended in Voldemort's care Harry had no idea about. Perhaps Dumbledore had hoped that the dark lord would only recognise him as Harry Potter and therefore kill him.

As soon as he started screaming the hand was snatched away. The pain lessened and Harry guessed that Voldemort was moving away from him though he did not understand why. Last time he checked the dark lord had been hip on inflicting as much pain on him as possible. Nothing should have been able to change that.

None the less he was thankful when he heard the door close and the pain slowly lessened until it was all gone. He did still not understand why Voldemort had left him but it did not matter. As long as Voldemort stayed away he would have a chance to get away from this room he would have a chance to flee.

Harry's whole body tensed when he heard the door open and he waited for the pain to start anew.

Several minutes passed without anything happened and the only sound he could hear was his own breathing. Slowly Harry allowed himself to relax a little, perhaps he had heard wrong in his panicked state. After all, if someone were in the bedroom with him they would probably have started the torture by now. Or perhaps they only waited for him to relax enough so they could start when he least awaited it.

Wanting to know Harry opened his eyes. He realised that he was laying face down and therefore could see nothing else than the soft carpet. Why had he been placed in a bedroom? It would have made far more sense if he had been placed in a cell much like the ones he had already been in.

Minding his wounds Harry rolled onto his back so he now was staring up at the ceiling. The bedroom was a beautiful room that much he had to admit. But it just made him more confused than he already was.

Harry let his eyes wander from the ceiling and around the room. To be honest this did not look like a room you would put a guest in, especially not a prisoner. He could easily imagine this as Voldemort's room, but that made no sense to him.

"You know it is considered rude to ignore a person when they are in the same room as you. Then again, you Gryffindors have never been known for your manners." Feeling too shocked to react Harry turned his head enough to see the person who had spoken. "No, they are known for their so called bravery. But I did not know that there was a house of manners at Hogwarts, Draco." Harry watched Draco carefully. Like the blonde's father Draco had a great resemblance to Abraxas. Perhaps it was because of the veela blood Draco's great grandmother had brought with her into the family.

Draco bristled. "Since when have you gotten the permission the call me by my name, Potter?" Harry shrugged the best he could in his current position while his brain tried to come up with a way to get out of the room. He already knew that he was not at Malfoy manor or any other place he had warded, which meant he could not just use the same stunt as he had used before. "As I told Lucius, I have known too many of your family. I would slowly drive myself mad if I had to call you all Malfoy."

The Slytherin, who had been leaning against the door until now, stepped forward and Harry flinched before he could stop himself. "Easy there, Potter, if I wanted to hurt you I would have done so already. Besides, even if others want to do so, the dark lord has ordered them to leave you alone or suffer the consequences."

"Then what are you doing here?" Harry followed Draco with his eyes as the blonde walked the short distance between them and stopped right in front of him. "Lord Voldemort ordered me in here to take care of you. Originally he had planned on doing so himself when the houseelf came and told us that you had awoken. But now where you are conscious it seems like your scar is reacting to his presence in a bad way."

Harry yelped in pain when Draco suddenly bowed down and scooped him up in his arms. "What do you think you are doing? Put me down you son of a-"

"I would advise you not to finish that since my mother is one of the people who patched you up and she will also be taking care of you."

"Who else?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said that she was one of the people who patched me together, so who else?"

"Uncle Sev, of course."

As soon as Draco placed him on the king sized bed Harry moved to the other side to get up. He had no intentions about staying there long enough to find out what kind of plans the dark lord had with him. He did not get far before a hand clamped down around his ankle and pulled him back to the middle of the bed. Harry growled and twisted around to kick Draco. Before his foot made contact Draco got hold of it and effectively stopped him from doing anything.

Harry breathed heavily already feeling tired despite the fact that he had only just awoken. "Are you going to attack me when I release you?" Harry glared at the blonde and slowly shook his head. Seemingly satisfied with the answer Draco let go of his feet.

His feet had not even touched the mattress before he was on his way out of the bed. This time Draco took hold on his shoulder and pushed him backwards until Harry was laying flat on his back with Draco sitting on him. "You broke your promise, Potter."

"Actually, I did not. You only asked me not to attack you when you let go of me, but you said nothing about later on or fleeing."

Before he had a chance to hit the bigger boy Draco had already gotten hold of his wrists and was holding his hands over his head. "Mortimus was not lying when he told how much troubles you could be when there was something you did not want to do." Harry's eyes widened before narrowing into slits. "How do you know Mortimus? He is dead."

"Honestly Potter, how stupid can you be? Every Malfoy gets a portrait made. Once they are dead the magic in the portrait is activated and voila, one Mortimus to talk with. His portrait is at the manor, if you are interested."

Harry nibbled his lip. He wanted to talk with his old friend but why would Draco ever offer him such a thing? Confused Harry shook his head to clear it from thoughts. "It does not matter, when am I going to die?" Draco stared down at him as if not understanding what he was talking about. "Did you not listen to a single word I have said, Potter? Severus and my mother used a lot of time to make sure that you would survive. Why would they do that if we wanted to kill you?"

"So you are going to torture me before I am killed. Just go on, with all what I have been though I doubt that you will be able to come up with anything which can surprise me. A little advice, the cruciatus gets old fast."

Draco groaned and sat back, thus letting go of Harry's hands. This time Harry did not try to hit the other boy. He was pretty much helpless in the position and saw no reason to anger the other boy more than he probably already was. "How thick is your head Potter? Are you just plain stupid or is it just an act of yours? Why should I risk my life saving you just to kill you? It makes absolutely no sense."

Harry turned the statement several times in his head before his brain finally seemed to catch the meaning. "Wait. When did you saw me?"

"Who do you think got you out of Hogwarts and here? I can promise you, it was not the Easter Bunny."

"I am not sure what I should be most shocked about. You saving my life, or the fact that you know about the Easter Bunny."

The Malfoy heir was saved from answering when the door to the room was opened. Harry's body tensed and he turned his head sharply to see who had entered while he made sure to keep track of Draco out of the corner of his eye. Even if Draco was speaking the truth Harry would not trust the boy.

Severus Snape was standing in the doorway, staring at the two of them. Seeing the potion master made Harry feel a moment of relief. At least he now knew that Voldemort had not killed the man, that was more than he had dared to hope for.

But a look at the potion master's face quickly killed the joy he had been feeling. Something told Harry that Snape was mad though he could not figure out why. It was not like Snape would torture him, at least he did not think so.

"Draco, when Voldemort sent you in it was to attempt and calm him, not to molest him." Harry watched as Draco's face turned an interesting nuance of red. It was the first time he actually saw a Malfoy blush. Until now he had thought that it was genetically impossible for them to do so.

"Potter, do you have any idea about how much troubles you are in? I ordered you to not use magic after drinking the potion, but did you listen? No, instead you headed straight into troubles without a second thought. You should consider yourself lucky that you were brought here when you were. We are starting from point zero and this time you are not going to get away before you are fully healed."

Harry tried to sink into the mattress as Snape continued on. Why the potion master reacted like this. If not because Harry knew better he would say it was because the man cared about him. Since he knew that it was not a possibility he guessed it was because he hated seeing his hard work being wasted.

None of the boys moved as Snape made his way over to them. "Now, does one of you dimwits think that you will be able to tell me what is going on?" Although the question was to both of them Severus was looking directly at Draco. "Potter here keeps insisting that we either kill him or torture him and then we kill him. And he tried to get out of the bed hence the position we are in right now."

Harry stopped himself from flinching when Snape's black orbs looked him directly in his eyes. Knowing what Snape could do when he had eye contact with someone Harry averted his eyes. He did not feel like being mind raped today, thank you very much.

"Potter, why would I waste my time on you if you were just going to get killed?" Harry relaxed slightly at the professor's words. Though one could call Snape many things he was one of the few people who had actually never lied to him and he saw no reason to why the potion master should start on it now.

"If you are not going to kill me, then why am I still wearing those?" Harry gestured at the cuffs around his wrists. They had been cleaned from dirt and his blood and actually looked kind of pretty now where he took a closer look at them. But it did not mean that he liked them. "Because I cannot trust your word about not using magic since you have already broken your promise. It will also stop you from attacking people."

Harry worried his lip between his teeth. "But-"

"Potter, you are going to stay here for awhile. So either you stop acting like a child or you can continue being an immature brat." Harry glared at the two Slytherins, not finding anything to say to them.

"Very well, Draco, if you will please make sure that he cannot move, I will have to put this cream on his wounds." Harry tried to push the blonde away but Draco had no troubles with holding him back. "Lean back and relax, Potter, who knows, you might end up enjoying it." Harry only gave a low growl as an answer.

Once he got those cuffs removed he would make sure that there was hell to pay for them.

**Next chapter will be sent to the beta when I receive it. But you people will not get it before this chapter has gotten at least fifty reviews. Am I evil? I know it and I love it. **

**Just so you know it, Voldemort will take the potion Severus has made for him and he and Harry will have a real confrontation. That is at least what HuskyWalker told me.**

**Mortimus, the future ruler of the world. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay, Mortimus has been banned from my computer. I am so sorry. He should not have asked for all those reviews. Even worse was it when I came home from the tour with my friends. He had not even sent the chapter to the beta. Ah, stupid Mortimus.**

**Anyway, here is the next chapter, Harry and Voldemort will be meeting, finally.**

**Please enjoy.**

Voldemort glared at the closed door in front of him, stopping himself from blowing it up. "**Is something wrong? I would say it was that time of the month, as humans call it, if not because I knew that you cannot have it**," He glared shortly at Nagini before turning his full attention back to the door. "**I have not been in my own bedroom for a week and a half. It is frustrating to have to watch people walk in and out and yet knowing that I cannot go in there because I cause him pain. Even you can come and go as you want.**"

Nagini snickered softly. "**You should hear yourself. You sound like a spoiled child who has been denied access to their favourite toy and now is sulking.**"

"**But I have no way of knowing how Evan is doing other than what other people tell me. It has been too long already. I want to see him and make sure that he is truly okay**."

"**You will just have to trust Severus and Narcissa about this. After all, they have been educated to handle things like this.**"

Instead of answering the snake he sighed and leaned further back in the armchair. He knew that it was not like him to act like this. But a small part of him told him, that Evan would disappear if he did not guard the door. Hence the reason to why he had only left his chambers a few times, and only when he could not avoid it. He had even gone as far as moving the most of his office into his chambers, that way he could continue planning and still be near Evan in case something should happen.

"**You should stop worrying so much.**" Voldemort glared at Nagini. "**It is easy for you to say. It is not your presence which inflicts pain on my Evan**." Nagini sighed tiredly. "**If that is the way you want it then I will be gone. Perhaps I will be lucky and find the rat in his animagus form. He is always so fun to chase around.**"

He watched in silence as the snake slid out of the door and left him alone in the room. Voldemort glanced over at the door to his bedroom from time to time while he tried to work through the stacks of papers on his desk. He knew that he did not have to worry about Evan. Not only did the houseelves keep track on him but the children of his followers were also in the room with his lover. They would rather die protecting Evan than let something happen to him on their watch. Of course they did not dare anything else.

It had been fascinating to watch as his followers followed the Malfoys' lead and took their children out of school. Some came up with excuses such as the dangers of the war they were in the middle of. Others just showed up over day and took their children with them. The headmaster was unable to do anything about it as no law prevented the parents to take their children out of school to home school them. And with Lucius and other members in the ministry it was easy to spread the words so other pureblood families removed their children from Hogwarts. The blame was put on Dumbledore and Fudge was only too willing to believe the worst about Hogwarts' headmaster.

He thought back at his conversation with Lucius the day that Evan had been returned to him. What he had learned had been quite interesting though he still had to decide how he should act on this knowledge. Dumbledore he had planned killing for such a long time. Now the desire had only grown after learning what the old headmaster had done. After all, who else would have put Evan in that cell? There was no way to keep such a thing a secret from the goat.

Ronald Weasley.

The dark lord leaned back in his chair. He of course knew of the Weasley family. After all Abraxas had told him about the scandal between their two families. And even if the blonde had not done so he would have learned it from the newspapers.

Weasley was a light family and supported Albus Dumbledore and his view on muggleborns and muggles. They were purebloods but poor, something the Malfoys had made sure of. Ronald Weasley had befriended Evan back in their first year and Evan had saved the red head's little sister in his second year.

Although Voldemort was a Slytherin not even he looked lightly on the things Ronald Weasley had done. It was not only that he had betrayed his lover, but even among Slytherins trust was not betrayed unless there was a good reason for it.

It seemed like Draco had found the youngest Weasley boy torturing his Evan. He would not let him get away with that. He would make sure that the boy would regret what he had done to his Evan before he finally killed him. Perhaps he should take out the Weasley family, one after another. Of course he would have to let them know why he was doing it. But there would be nothing they could do about it.

Hopefully Evan would not try to stop him. Voldemort was willing to do nearly everything for his lover, as long as it was not a danger for Evan. But there were some things which he would not change or bend on. Either Evan would have to accept that or he would just have to make sure that his lover never got to find out about it. What Evan did not know could not harm him. And accidents happened, especially in wartime. It would not be his fault if a whole family suddenly disappeared. It had happened before and they would probably not be the last one from either side.

Voldemort sighed and rubbed his nose. He honestly doubted that he would get much work done. He wanted to be with Evan but as long as the connection between them caused Evan pain it was not happening anytime soon. He could still not believe that he had once enjoyed the side effect of his connection before he knew that Potter was Evan. He would get Severus to work on a cure for it as soon as the potion master had delivered the potion for him.

As if having heard his thought he heard someone knock on the door. Bending down over the papers on his table he created an illustration of having been working the whole time and opened the door with a small wave.

Lucius stepped in closely followed by Severus who held a small vial with a candy pink coloured potion in it. "My lord." Both of them said and bowed before straightening again. Voldemort finished the paper he had been working on and laid the quill down before he turned his attention to the two lovers who stood in front of his desk.

"Is it ready?"

"Yes, as Lucius explained I finished the potion last night but it had to cool down or the dragon scales would have made the potion explode as soon as it was swallowed."

Voldemort nodded, stood and walked around the desk. "How is this going to be done?" He looked directly at Severus, knowing that the potion master would already have thought this through. "It will be best for you to lie down. I will not lie to you; it is going to be painful as the potion is going to force your body to turn back to what it once was."

The dark lord nodded and took the potion from Severus before he walked over to his sofa and lay down. Without other words Voldemort removed the stopper and swallowed the potion in one go.

**)00(**

Severus watched with interest as Voldemort swallowed the potion without hesitating. He had found the recipe in one of Salazar Slytherin's books. Slytherin had been a true genius and Severus would gladly give his left arm to meet the founder. Unfortunately no time turner could take anyone so far back in time. And he refused to let someone cast the killing curse at him and hope that he ended in the time he wanted to be. Besides, it was probably only Potter who would come out of such a thing.

His concentration turned back to the dark lord as Voldemort's red eyes became glassy and his body started twisting in a similar way to a victim of the Cruciatus. Together with Lucius he sat down in the two armchairs facing the sofa. This was something he would not risk missing and nothing short of Potter dying would be able to force him away. He honestly doubted that the dark lord and Lily would forgive him should he let anything happen to the boy.

He already knew about the next thing Voldemort wanted him to work on. Other than making the potions for Potter he also had to find a way to stop the pain Potter felt every time the dark lord came near him. Even when he found a solution Severus doubted it would do much good. The two of them had a lot of issues they needed to work on and he knew that he was not the only one who had noticed this. He, Narcissa and Lucius had already had many talks about what to do. Until now they had been unable to come up with a solution for this problem.

Voldemort insisted on calling Potter Evan as if it would make the fact that he had killed the boy's parents and attempted to kill the boy several times disappear. At the same time Potter saw Voldemort as an evil dark lord, and Tom as the one he had fallen in love with, but who now was dead. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to lock the two of them in the same room until they had worked their issues out. Either they would realise what they were doing wrong, or they would end up killing each other. Severus hoped it would be the first.

Severus' turned his full attention back to the dark lord, when Voldemort gasped in pain and watched as the changes happened. Sweat was running down his face and his body was shaking because of the changes it was going through. He would have to talk with his two lovers about his idea on a later time. Right now he had other things to focus on.

At first the changes were small and slow. Voldemort's skin started looking healthier, although it was still very pale. Small black hair started growing out of his head, while he got eyebrows again. Soon he had his black hair back, smooth and dark as a moonless night. His body started filling out so he no longer looked like a living corpse. The last things which changed were his nose and his lips. Both had before been nonexistent but were now back where they belonged.

Severus looked in silence at the man at the sofa. Voldemort once again looked like he had before he had started splitting his soul. This was the man who had gotten people to follow him and his case with just a smile and a few well placed words.

The dark lord opened his mouth in a silent scream, his back ached in pain and his body twisted. Severus watched in silence together with his lover.

Voldemort opened his eyes and slowly sat up. He looked down at his hands and turned them several times, as if finding it hard to believe what he was seeing. Without a word he conjured a mirror and watched himself, taking in every little detail of his face. Voldemort ran a hand through his hair and smirked. "Good job, Severus:" The potion master nodded but frowned. "But the potion did not fully work as intended. Your eyes were supposed to have gone back to their old colour, instead they are still red." Voldemort looked back at the mirror with a frown similar to Severus' own. "It seems like you are right. Could it be-"

An ear piercing scream from behind the door to the dark lord's bedroom cut off whatever Voldemort had been about to say. Before any of them could react, Voldemort was already up from the sofa and through the door to his bedroom. Severus blinked in surprise. With the pain he knew the dark lord should be feeling it was a surprise that the man already was up and about. He knew that it would only be a question about time before the lord would feel the after effects of the potion. It was most likely that he would tire himself out.

**)00(**

His list of people he needed to get revenge on was starting to get rather long. There were Dumbledore and Ron for the torture they had made him go through. Snape and Narcissa for forcing him to stay in bed and go through a treatment which did not matter. As soon as he got the chance he would go after the headmaster again. And this time he was sure he would kill Dumbledore.

Last on his list were his Slytherin year mates. It seemed like they had been assigned on staying with him all times of the day. He was not even allowed to go in the bathroom alone without someone following with him. But it could have been worse though. At least they did not get one of the girls to follow with him; he doubted he would have survived that. Was it possible to die of blushing?

Right now he was in the bed with his back against the headboard, surround by the Slytherins from his own year. Had anyone ever told him that he ever would have found himself in such a situation he would have cursed the living light out of them. But there he was, sitting in Voldemort's bedroom, surrounded by those he had once seen as his school enemies.

His wounds were healing nicely thanks to the cream Snape had made for him. It was a slow process and the former professor had explained it was so that the cream did not react with the potion. Harry did not know what could happen but after last time he had learned to trust the man's warnings.

Most of his body was still bandaged and there was only a few things he could manage to do, and even fewer that the people around him allowed him to do. It was almost like they feared for their lives if he should break a nail. He wondered if Voldemort perhaps had said something to make them act like that.

No matter what, it was driving him mad not to be allowed to do the most basic things on his own.

Right now he watched Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson in a discussion about their future, or lack thereof. "But Pansy, no one really bother planning what they want to do unless our parents have planned it. And they only think of whom to marry their kids off to, to strength the family name. Other than that most of them lets us get free hands."

The Slytherin girl crossed her arms and stuck her nose up in the air while she glared at her boyfriend. "Really, Blaise, you have no ambitions at all."

"Then, pray tell, what kind of plans do you have for your future, Pansy?" Draco drawled from the other side of Harry's bed, not looking up from the book about potions that he was reading.

"Of course, Draco dear. I plan on getting married to a rich pureblood man. Then he will suffer a tragic and inexplicable dead. Afterwards I will take over the ministry." Harry watched with a small smile how Blaise slowly turned paler at Pansy talking. "But I thought that the two of us were getting married." The Slytherin girl just smiled and patted him on his arm. "Of course we are Blaise; it was after we got together that I made my plans."

Harry muffled his laughter with his hand. He was not quite sure whether or not Pansy was serious or not. "But I thought that Voldemort was supposed to be the one who would rule magical Britain." The Slytherins' heads snapped in his direction and Harry started blushing. Until now he had done his best to stay out of their discussions and such. He had talked before he had had time to think about what he was saying.

Pansy clicked her tongue, stood and walked over to him. Harry sat stiff as she sat down at the edge of the bed. Thanks to the bed's size there was still plenty of distance between them but it did not mean that he felt comfortable around them. "Of course the dark lord will win the war. But before that happens he will need people inside the ministry to help. And why should he settle for minister of magic when he could be so much more."

Harry titled his head to the side, not sure if he truly understood what she meant. Pansy sighed. "Why should the dark lord only be the minister of magic? There are so many things he wants to change for the better. He will need people to take care of the boring things while he works on his own goals."

The way Pansy spoke reminded Harry of the young Tom, who had explained him his hopes and dreams for the Wizarding world's future. At that time it had seemed so simple and it had been different from Voldemort's plans in this time. He wondered if it was his interference in the past which had changed that. But as Remus had explained him what had happened had meant to happen and somehow whatever controlled the world would have made sure it happened, in one way or another.

He nodded slowly to show that he had understood what she said although Harry was not really sure about it. They talked about Voldemort's plans as if they would be good for the Wizarding world. He guessed it should not really surprise him. They had probably been brought up to believe so. As long as he was forced to stay together with them he found it best to keep his mouth closed so that he would not risk saying something which they did not like. Despite how he usually acted he actually valued his life. If he had to die it would not be because of a pity argument but of something worthy.

Beside him Draco snorted. "Honestly Pansy, do you really believe that a Gryffindor would be able to understand what you are talking about." Harry turned his head towards Draco and narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean with that?" The blonde met his stare head on, clearly not afraid of him. Although Harry had to admit, right now he did not look impressive, bandaged and the smallest person in the room.

"Potter, sorry to say it, but you are too Gryffindor. You would never understand a complicated thing such a politic, no harm intended."

"Well, I will let you know that several people have told me that I am rather Slytherin, when I want to be." Harry fidgeted, when he realised that he now had the whole room's attention. That had not been what he had planned. He had just been tired of them treading him like a little child.

"And who would be stupid enough to think of you as a Slytherin?" Harry did not bother hiding his smile from the snakes. "Tom, who you might know as Voldemort, a few other people and the Sorting Hat."

Utter silence filled the room for several minutes and Harry started to worry if he had somehow managed to break the other teenagers. How should he explain to their parents what had happened?

Before he could work himself into hysteria Draco bended over and started laughing in a very un-Malfoyish way. "But if you really were supposed to be in Slytherin and the Sorting Hat had said so, how come it did not happen?" Harry turned his head to face Pansy and allowed himself a little smile which the girl returned. "Well, the Sorting Hat wanted to place me in Slytherin, but I asked it not to."

At that all three started laughing while Crabbe and Goyle just looked at each other, obliviously wondering about what was going on. "It seems like we have a true snake among us." Blaise said and patted him on his shoulder, making Harry gasp in pain and move away from the Italian boy. "True, only a true Slytherin would be able to avoid getting into Slytherin."

Draco smirked. "Think about it, Gryffindor's Golden Boy is really a silver snake, who would have thought that?" Harry scowled at crossed his arms. "So what, it is not as if it matters anyway."

"What do you mean?" Blaise asked as he sat down at the edge of the bed and sneaked an arm around his girlfriend's waist.

"I ended in Gryffindor, which means that I belong there."

"Maybe." Pansy said. "But the Sorting Hat also wanted to make you a snake, which means that you are one of us."

A scream tore through his throat and he quickly placed his hands over his scar. His fingers clawed the scar, trying to remove the pain which had suddenly started. Hands grabbed his wrists and tried to move his hands away. Harry yelped in pain and kicked out after the person holding his hands. He could feel the blood running down his face but had no idea about how bad it was.

It felt like something was trying to tear itself free from his head. Harry's eyes were closed and he concentrated fully on stopping whatever it was from leaving him. It was something which belonged to him, that he was sure of, and he had no intentions about letting it go.

Harry gritted his teeth, growling lowly. He was still aware of the hands trying to pry his hands away from his scar but he tried to ignore them. Instead he focussed on what was going on inside his head. He was not about to lose this and whoever was doing this to him had no idea of who they were dealing with. He would show the person just why no one ever tried to take something of his away from him. He was no longer the boy who lived with his relatives and let others step on him. He was Harry Potter and Evan James, defeater of Gellert Grindelwald.

A second scream forced its way out of his mouth. The hands let go of him and Harry fell back in the soft bed and curled into a ball to protect himself. He bit through his lip to stop more screams from coming through and the taste of blood filled his mouth.

Strong arms gathered him in an embrace and Harry found himself placed in a hard lap. He turned until he could bury his face in the person's chest, not caring about who might be seeing this. The only thing which mattered to him was that the pain seemed to lessen now where he was close to this person.

As the pain slowly disappeared Harry became aware of the hand running through his hair. The feeling was familiar and he frowned, trying to think of who it could be. He realised it was probably the same person who had been with him when he had been unconscious. No one had been willing to tell him who that had been they had all said, that he would find out the answer when the time was right.

Wanting to know who it was Harry let go of the robes which he had been clenching, he placed his hands on the chest and tried to push himself away so he would be able to see the person.

The hand, which had been laying comforting on his back did not budge and was now used to hold him in place. Harry scowled and tried to push again, he wanted to see who this person was, other than being a male he knew nothing about him. "Do not move." Harry frowned, he knew that voice. It had whispered loving words when they had made love and had berated him whenever he had done something stupid. And it had comforted whenever he had woken up from a nightmare.

Harry's breath got caught in his throat. Slowly he pushed away from the warm body and this time the person let him. Harry's eyes did not stray from the chest, where his hands were resting against dark blue robes.

Slowly his eyes ventured up, taking in every little detail. The strong but slender neck and the pale skin. The mouth with red lips and a small black moustache and a straight nose. He stopped at the eyes. So red that they looked like blood and so cold that they could probably freeze his soul.

This time nothing stopped him when he started moving away. Harry moved slowly and did not look away, as if he was facing a dangerous animal. Green eyes stared into dark red and it was as it nothing else existed around them. A bomb could probably have exploded in the room next to them and Harry was sure that none of them would have noticed it.

"Evan."

The soft spoken word was enough to get Harry out of his trance. Harry crawled off the bed so he was as far away as possible from the man. "You stay away from me. I might not have my magic right now, but I can still use this." While talking Harry had reached out for the nearest thing he could grab and held it between them as a shield without taking his eyes away from Voldemort, who was watching him with a bemused expression.

"You do know that you are holding a pillow. It is not exactly the most impressive weapon you could have chosen."

"Fuck." He hissed, realising that he was truly screwed. Even without those cuffs he knew that Voldemort would probably wipe the floor with his face in a duel.

Harry snorted lightly and Voldemort raised an eyebrow. "What happened to your face?"

"What do you mean?"

"You actually have one!"

Though Voldemort looked annoyed Harry felt nothing in his scar, not even the slightest tingle of pain and it made Harry frown. "How come that I am not in pain? Last time you were near me, I could not think of anything but it, but now there is nothing. And how did you get your body back."

"A potion, there is a reason to why Severus is the youngest potion master ever."

"But it does still not explain why I am not feeling any pain."

Voldemort seemed to be lost in thought and Harry did not dare to move in fear that it would draw the man's attention to him. Instead he looked around and realised that they were alone in the bedroom. Perhaps T-Voldemort had made the others leave while Harry was engulfed in pain and therefore did not notice anything.

Getting enough of the heavy atmosphere in the room Harry decided to break the silence. "Look." He started, and hesitated shortly when he suddenly had Voldemort's full attention. "It does not really matter. I want nothing to do with the war anymore. I want to leave, Dumbledore is mine to kill and I will not die before I have gotten him. Is that really too much to ask for? I do really not care about what happens to the Wizarding world, for all what I care they can go and screw themselves."

Voldemort had remained silent under his whole speech which actually surprised Harry. He had thought that the man would have interrupted already. "Are you finished?" Harry nodded slowly without taking his eyes away from the man. "Good. No I will not allow you to leave now where you finally are back where you belong. I lost you fifty years ago, I am not going to miss you again. And you are not going after Dumbledore. Last time you did so you ended up in a cell and were torture. It was pure luck that you were freed. If you had stayed there you would have been killed."

Harry snorted and stepped away when Voldemort began crawling towards him. "Stay away from me."

"Evan, get back to bed. You are still not cured and I do not want your wounds to open up and undo all Severus and Narcissa's hard work."

Harry stepped back again and Voldemort slit off of the bed, quickly following his movements. "I am leaving and nothing you are doing can stop me. There is no way in hell that I am going to stay here."

"You are still wounded, without magic and out of my home you will be surrounded by people who are out for your life."

Harry swallowed as he continued backwards and Voldemort followed him closely. "I am not some pet you can just keep locked up. I am a human being, I have the right to chose whatever I want to do and nothing is going to stop me from doing so."

The boy closed his mouth when his back hit the wall behind him and he found that he had no space to move. To-Voldemort took a last step and they were now standing so close to each other that their noses were nearly touching. Voldemort placed a hand on each side of his head and Harry found himself trapped.

"No, you are not a pet; you are so much more than that. But it does not mean that I will let you go. You belong with me, and I am going to make sure that you understand it, Evan." Voldemort leaned forward as if to kiss him, but Harry turned his head so his lips instead landed on his cheek.

"For the last time, I am not Evan, my name is Harry Potter. You know? The one you have tried to kill from the day I was born? You killed my parents, you killed Cedric and you killed Sirius. How in Hell should I ever be able to forgive you?"

Being at lost for words, Harry did the only thing he could think of and swung his arm. Had this been any other situation he would probably have been amused by Voldemort's expression when the pillow hit him right in the face. The older wizard growled, forced the pillow from him and flung it across the room where it hit the floor.

Now without anything to defend himself with, Harry was only too aware of how close they were standing. Voldemort's breath washed over his face and sent pleasant shivers down his spine.

Harry stood unmoving and met Voldemort's gaze although he felt his heart beat so fast that it was about to explode. "Just leave me alone."

**)00(**

Voldemort watched Evan while he silently debated his next move. His lover was not acting the way he had hoped he would. Sure, he had known that there would the bumps on the way but it did not mean that Evan would have to fight him in everything he did.

So many years had passed and yet Evan still looked like he had done fifty years ago, although he was pale and thinner than he had been before. He would soon change that. Now where he was able to be near Evan again he could take care of his lover. Evan would be able to live the rest of his life without worries, just as he had planned it when he had been young.

"You might have been one of my hocruxes. It would explain why you were able to see through my eyes and why I have been able to send you visions. You had a piece of my soul within you. For all those years I knew nothing about it, but it explains why I could not kill you, because then I would be killing a part of myself."

"But what about the first time you went after me? Then I had no soul piece inside me. Dumbledore once told me it was because of my mother's love which saved me when she refused to step aside for you."

From the way Evan looked Voldemort was sure that his lover knew about horcruxes. It was after all in one of his lover's books that he first had found out about soul splitting. "Evan, Evan, Evan."

"Harry." His lover snapped but Voldemort ignored the ton. They would have more than enough time to figure out things between them. "Have you not learned not to trust the old fool's words? How many mothers do you think have stepped in front of the killing curse to save their child? I am not sure about why you survived that night, but I guess you already at that time might have looked so much like Evan, that I could not put my heart into it."

It seemed to explain the pain Evan must have felt when he had drunken the potion. His hocrux would have tried to return to him. But after having spent so many years in Evan it had probably merged with the boy's own soul. There was no doubt in his mind that the process had been painful for Evan. It also explained his lover's reaction to their past encounters. The soul piece had tried to return to its owner while Evan's soul had stopped it from leaving him.

"Say something."

"What?" Evan tilted his head to the side, an innocent expression which sent his blood south. "Say something in Parseltongue." He recognised the stubborn look in Evan's eyes as soon as Evan got it. "I fail to see why I should listen to a word of what you say."

Voldemort pressed his body against Evan's so the smaller wizard was caught between him and the wall. He pressed his lips against Evan's in a dominating kiss. At first Evan fought him and tried to push him away. But slowly his lover stopped protesting and instead responded to the kiss.

The dark lord broke of the kiss. "**You are mine, Evan. And the sooner you realise this the easier it is going to be for the both of us.**" Evan watched him through half closed eyes which he had a glassed look in.

"**Fuck you**." Voldemort raised an eyebrow. It seemed like Evan had somehow managed to keep the ability to speak Parseltongue. He would have to try and figure out why on a later time. Right now he had more important things to take care of. "**I am afraid that you are wrong, Evan. You are the one who is going to get fucked. Perhaps I need to give you a reminder about who it is that does the fucking in this relationship.**"

Voldemort ignored the way Evan paled at his words. He knew that it was too early for them to take up their old relationship, Evan's wounds needed to heal some more before they could really do anything, but it did not mean that he would let Evan stop him from doing what he wanted to.

In one move he had Evan up in his arms in bridal style and carried his lover back to the bed, ignoring the way his lover was trying to get a good kick in. With his body back as a twenty-five year old he was bigger and far healthier than Evan. Even when his lover tried to put up a good fight Voldemort would easily win it.

Gently but with a firm hand he placed Evan back on the bed. Before his lover had a chance to get off of the bed Voldemort had already joined him in it. He wrapped his arms around the young body, stopping Harry effetely from getting anywhere. "What are you doing?" Evan sounded horrified while Voldemort buried his nose in his lover's hair and breathed in his scent.

"Going to sleep." Voldemort said although it was only midday. Evan needed his rest and this was the only way he was sure that his lover would stay in the bed. Besides, he had already spent so many nights on the sofa and he needed some sleep in his own bed. Everything else could wait.

Evan growled and wiggled to get free. "Let me go."

"Be quiet and go to sleep." Voldemort squeezed lightly before relaxing his grip again. He did not want to harm his lover more than he already was. "We will just sleep together as we did before. Back then you seemed to have no troubles with doing this." Voldemort smirked when he felt Evan's body relax a little against his own. "This means nothing."

Voldemort just chuckled and placed a last kiss on Evan's neck before he curled up to Evan's side and drifted off. He knew that Evan would not be going anywhere anytime soon.

**)00(**

"So." Crabbe said, being the first one to speak since they had been thrown out of the dark lord's bedroom. The screams had stopped a while ago and yet no one dared to go in and check if the two of them were still alive.

The six Slytherins were seated around the lit fireplace while their parents and Severus stood a little away, speaking quietly together. No matter how much Draco strained his ears he was unable to hear a single word of what they were saying.

"So, Evan James and Harry Potter are the same person." Crabbe continued after a long pause, making Draco turn his attention back to the other boy. "Yes, Crabbe, that is what we have been saying all the time." Pansy answered from her place in Blaise's lap. "But Potter is our enemy and he hates our lord." Goyle exclaimed while Crabbe nodded. "Yeah, and Evan should be really old, after all he adopted Tom Riddle."

Draco already felt a headache announcing it arrival. Sometimes he wondered how these two had managed to end up in Slytherin. It felt like he was trying to explain something to a Gryffindor. Draco decided he would try and explain it to them again, if he was lucky they might actually understand it this time.

"Headmaster Dumbledore tried to kill Potter just before the summer vacation started."

"But if the headmaster killed him, why is he still alive then?" Crabbe opened his mouth to continue Goyle's questions but a glare from Draco stopped the boy before he could get so far. "But as we all know, things do not go with Potter as they are supposed to. So instead of killing him headmaster Dumbledore sent Gryffindor's Golden Boy back in time, where he took the name Evan James and adopted Tom Riddle. Are you two with me so far?"

Draco breathed out when the two boys nodded eagerly. At least he could go on for now. "Uncle Severus has already told us that the dark lord and Tom Riddle are the same person. So Harry Potter is the dark lord's lover."

"But why would the dark lord kill his lover?" Draco sighed and rubbed his temples. "The dark lord was not aware of the fact that Evan and Potter are one and same person."

"But he is now." Goyle cut in. "Yes." Draco managed to press out through his lips.

Crabbed nodded but stopped and his face morphed into a frown. "But, if Potter is Evan how come he is at the same age as us?"

Draco groaned and facepalmed himself.

Sometimes he really wondered why he bothered trying to explain anything to those two.

**Next: I have absolutely no idea what should happen. I need ideas. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Thanks for the many reviews, I used some of the ideas, but others will be used later on, I hope you like it. **

**Disclaimer: If I owner Harry Potter there would have been a scene where Dumbledore offered Voldemort a lemon drop.**

**Beta: ****angelhitomie **

Since the day where he first had found himself out of the cell, Harry had not had a single moment on his own. Always had there been someone to breathe down his neck and watch his every move. And now where Voldemort no longer inflicted pain on him the man seemed to spend his every free moment with him.

Although Harry wanted to continue seeing Tom and Voldemort as two different persons it was hard, especially now where he acted so much like the Tom he had known and loved. Voldemort seemed to have an endless patience with him. No matter what he did or said it did not seem to get to the man and when he finally seemed to get under his skin, Voldemort would leave him in someone else's care and disappear for a few hours. When he returned he had once again build up the walls of calmness he seemed to wear around his person.

But this time Harry had awoken from a nap to find himself alone in the bedroom. He had fallen asleep when Voldemort had applied the cream on his wounds. He hated the treatment because it made him relax no matter who did it. But with Voldemort he often relaxed too much and he would often wake up from a nap, finding Voldemort nearby, either reading something or simply watching him. It did not help him that the time spent with Voldemort made him remember the time he had been with Tom.

Harry lay in the bed and stared up at the ceiling. The pain from his wounds were duller now thank to the cream and he had no plans about staying in bed anymore. He felt restless and he knew that he would probably go crazy if he did not find something to do.

Biting his tongue Harry pushed himself into a sitting position. Gingerly he slid his legs out from under the covers and placed his feet on the floor. After a moment he pushed himself up into a standing position before heading over to the bedroom door.

He was still dressed in pyjamas pants, this time in a deep green nuance. Voldemort seemed to want to dress him in Slytherin colours. Though Harry had nothing against the colour it was the fact that he was not able to make a decision on his own. He liked green, but it could become too much. And he longed after more clothes. Every time he was near Voldemort he felt underdressed and vulnerable. Harry knew that clothes would not make a difference but it would make him feel better than he did now. But to get clothes he would have to ask Voldemort, and that was something which Harry was not willing to do.

Even with the cuffs Harry was able to feel the wards place on the door hum with magic. Either Voldemort was really paranoid or he wanted to make sure that he did not get away. It did not stop Harry from trying to open the door although he was not surprised when it did not bulge. With a sigh Harry let go of the door handle and turned his back to the door. He already knew that the windows could be opened, just not enough for him to get through them. It was a shame that the cuffs stopped him from changing into Beleza, as a cat he would have been able to come through. And charms were placed on the glass so he could not break them and jump.

The room was bare for magical objects, both dark and light ones. It seemed like Voldemort did not want him to have something he could use against him. Or perhaps the dark lord feared that the magic in these objects would interact with the potion his was being feed. He would have to ask Snape next time he saw him.

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Harry grimaced at the greasy feeling. Until now he had been unable to take a real bath and Scourgify did not give him the same feeling of being clean. Since he knew he could not get away for now he would change it, who knew when he would get another chance like this? Harry did not fancy the idea of someone watching while he was naked. It was only Tom who had managed to make him comfortable enough to be naked around him. Even in Quidditch Harry had always been the first to get ready and the last to leave after a game. That way no one got to see much of his body.

No matter how many time he stepped into the bathroom Harry continued being amazed by its cheer size. It reminded him much of the prefects' bathroom on the fifth floor. A large swimming pool like tub with bath taps surrounding it, taking up most of the space. Harry turned the taps on, one after another and watched as different coloured water, bubbles and foam came out. Despite the tub's size it was filled rather quickly and Harry turned the taps off so the tub would not overflow.

Harry stood at the edge of the tub and dipped his toes in the warm water. It had the perfect temperature and he let out a relaxed sigh. He had been wearing neither shoes nor socks since he first had awoken. He guessed it was just another way to make sure he could not get away. Unless he transformed to Beleza he would not get far with bare feet.

Harry let his night clothes fell to the floor without much care. He knew that the houseelves would replace it with a clean set when he was getting dressed again. That was what had happened He missed wearing robes or even muggle clothes. But at least he had something to wear which was better than nothing. He would not risk being naked around Voldemort. He had a feeling that the dark lord would not be late to use the chance to his advantage.

Harry shook his head to clear it from his thoughts. He would not think about Voldemort or anything like that.

After having undressed Harry started working on the bandages. Snape's cream had worked wonders on his wounds, which were healing nicely. He still had to be careful with his movements, but he could probably take a bath without any consequences. Harry stopped in front of one of the big mirrors in the bathroom and looked at himself. Many of the wounds had already turned into faint scars which were slowly disappearing.

Looking away from the mirror Harry stepped down in the warm water. The foam filled the air and made it hard to see anything. Harry stopped at the tub's edge, not knowing how deep the tub was. The only time he had swum was in his fourth year and then he had used Gillyweed to help him. Harry had no plans about finding out whether or not he was a natural at swimming.

Harry leaned back until his head was resting on the edge of the tub and his body was floating weightless in the water. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax. It was nice to finally be alone and he planned on enjoying every bit of it.

"**Evan.**" Harry yelped in surprised and moved away from the tongue which flickered at his ear, only to find that he could no longer touch the bottom of the tub any longer. His feet and arms moved desperately in an attempt to find some fast ground. His head got under the water and Harry kicked and moved his arms around himself in an attempt to get up.

Just as he was about to follow his body's demand about opening his mouth and try to breathe, something strong and big wrapped itself around his chest. It yanked him up from the water and Harry hugged the scaly limb closely while keeping his eyes closed. The limp holding him moved but Harry kept hold on it, even as he was placed on the dry and safe ground. His body was shaking from the shock. He wondered who had surprised him. As far as he knew only he and Voldemort spoke Parseltongue but the voice had not belonged to a male.

Slowly Harry dared to open his eyes a little, only to find himself staring into poison yellow eyes with slit pupils. "**Nagini**?" As an answer the big snake hit him with the end of her tail. "**Stupid Evan, must you always get yourself into troubles**?"

Harry gaped at the snake and twisted to get free but the snake did not bulge. "**What are you talking about? It was you who startled me. If you had not surprised my nothing would have happened.**"The snake huffed but lightened her grip so Harry no longer felt like he was being crushed.

"**What fun would that have been? But I did not known that you would sound so much like a girl, Evan**."

"**My name is Harry Potter. Evan was just a person whom I came up with so I would not get myself into troubles by using my real name**."

"**Have you really been gone for so long that you have forgotten about the fact that I am always right? So if I say that you are Evan then you are Evan.**"

Harry groaned and had he been able to he would have smacked himself. He had actually managed to forget how stubborn Nagini could be. At least he knew that it was not only around him that she was like that. He smirked at the thought of Voldemort being bossed around by the big snake.

"**You are like a hatchling. So eager on wanting to prove yourself. Wait until your poison has developed before you try and fight.**" Annoyed Harry rolled his eyes. "**You do know that I took care of Tom and had to deal with you. I think I am more than capable to take care of myself.**"

"**But that was then and now is now.**" Was the only thing Nagini said.

Harry huffed and moved away from the snake, she had finally slacked her grip enough for him to get up and Harry was not late to use the chance to create some distance between them.

"**Nagini, what happened to Tom while I was gone?**" The question had bothered him for a while. Not even Hubert had been able to tell him much but Harry guessed Nagini would be the best way to find out. He wrapped a fluffy towel around his body, feeling slightly better now where he was not naked in front of the snake.

Nagini lay down at the edge of the tub, enjoying the heat from the water. After a moment of hesitating Harry sat down next to her and dipped his feet in the water. In the time he had known Nagini the snake had never really tried to harm him. But he had watched her attack Mr. Weasley and was aware of how much damage her poison could do in a short time.

"**After you died, Tom was forced to move back to the orphanage and I ended up with the Malfoys, since I was not allowed to go there or stay at the school. Your supposed death changed him, and thereby also his plans. He talked about those muggles who had hurt you and therefore did not deserve to live. He also wanted revenge on Dumbledore since he knew that he was somehow behind your supposed death. He was angry, really angry, and he threw himself into the dark arts in an attempt to forget your death. The next summer he killed his father, grandfather and grandmother with the killing curse. Then he altered his uncle's memories, causing him to believe that he was the killer**."

Harry watched Nagini in silence as the snake spoke. She seemed lost in thought and he could not help but envy her because she had been a part of Tom's life where he had been unable to. Although Tom had done a lot of unpleasant things Harry could not help but feel for his lover. He knew how it felt when losing someone who was loved, and how it could rip one into pieces.

"**After graduating Tom tried to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts, but he was rejected. Tom then worked for Caractacus Burke in Borgin and Burkes, where he found many of the things he later used to make his Hocruxes. He gathered people for his case, convinced them that he alone held the answer to how to save them all from the muggles. After that we travelled around the world, looking at the wonders of the world and Tom learned whatever he could. Then he started splitting his soul and Tom disappeared and Voldemort took over the body. Shortly after that we returned to Britain and Voldemort started the first war**."

Harry ran a hand through his hair with a tired sigh. "**So it is basically my fault. Remus told me that what happened was meant to happen. Because if I somehow managed to change something in the past, then I would change the future and therefore I would never have been able to change anything and it would never have happened. As Remus said, a paradox would have been created**."

Nagini lifted her head and stared at him for a long time. "**You humans think too much about things. If you were a snake you would be able to see it in a much simpler perspective.**"

**)00(**

Albus sat back in his chair with a tired sigh, truly feeling his age for a long time. On the desk in front of him were stacks of letters. Pureblood families informing him that they were taking their children out of school and the ministry demanded to know why the children of the pureblood families were being removed from school.

"It is all these Malfoys fault. If they had not taken their son out, I would not have all those troubles right now." Albus growled to no one. "Lucius Malfoy is in the school government and is turning everyone against me. These Malfoys are nothing but troubles. If not because of the Weasleys I could have had them as my supporters instead of Voldemort. Who would have thought that telling the Weasleys to break the marriage contract would have such consequences? Had I known that this war would start I would have made sure that they supported me, or at least stayed somewhat neutral as they did when Gellert was still alive."

Another problem was the Weasley boy who was currently being punished in the same style as Umbridge had done to the students last year. It was his fault that Potter was gone. The only way that someone would have found the cell was if they had followed someone there. If the Weasley boy just had followed his orders none of this would have happened, he was sure of that.

His plan had been brilliant. Knowing Potter the boy would soon have broken by being tortured by his former friend. Once he had deemed it enough he would have handed Potter over to Voldemort, who, blinded by hate, would have killed the boy. It would have been fitting that a lover killer was murdered by his own lover.

As the muggles tended to say, Fate is a bitch.

But alas nothing seemed to go as he wanted it to go. Potter was gone, Voldemort was laying low for the time being, probably planning his next move and he was short of one potion master.

He had checked up on Snape yesterday but the potion master's houseelf had informed him that her master potion master Snape was gone for an unknown time. Chances were that Voldemort had forced Snape to move to a secret location to brew potions for him undisturbed. He would have to find a way to get in contact with the potion master. Snape would probably have a rapport ready for him when he found the man.

Albus was distracted by Fawkes' soft trills. Ever since the end of last school year he had had the feeling that the phoenix was sending him disapproving glances though he could not figure out why. All he did was for the Greater Good. True, some lives were lost in the fire, but it was none too important for the case and therefore he did not really worry about it.

"I will have to find Potter somehow. Perhaps I should get the Order to look after Evan James. Voldemort will hear about it and probably use his time and resources on finding the boy which will give me more time to get Longbottom prepared. Merlin knows that the boy is going to need every single bit of help he can get. The prophecy might have been about Potter but Longbottom will motivate the Order to continue fighting. And if I am lucky the dark lord will find the boy before me. I wonder what his reaction will be once he finds out that Potter and James is the same person. Will he kill him right away, or torture him a little first? I am sure that Snape will include it in his rapport to me."

Albus winced when he thought of the Longbottom boy. The boy was average at best, and the only thing he got an O in was Herbology. Potter had been a much better candidate as the Chosen One had he not turned dark. Now he had to train a whole new puppet which would follow his every command. It helped that Weasley and the other Gryffindors now saw Longbottom as the savoir of the Wizarding world and also did their best to make him look and act like one.

But the Granger girl could prove to be a problem. Ever since Potter's capture she had changed. She had not participated a single time in the torture of the boy and she had not visited Potter since she first had seen him together with Weasley. She had isolated herself from the rest of the Gryffindors and now she seemed to fully concentrate on her school work. To put it simply, she was much like she had been before she had befriend Potter and Weasley after they had saved her from the troll in their first year.

But Granger was not an important piece in the war. True, she was the brightest witch in her year but he would leave her alone. As long as she did not join the dark side she would be left on her own.

Albus opened a drawer in his desk to get a quill and shrieked when a jolt went through his whole arm. "Damn you Potter, just you wait until we meet again then you are going to regret it." Albus looked down at his hand which was already swollen and red. Albus grimaced. He would get Pomfrey to take a look at his hand after the Order meeting, although he already knew that there was not much she could do about it. It was harder to get rid of Potter's so called pranks, and Albus was sure that he had not even found half of those which were hidden around in the office. It seemed like Potter had inherited that trait from his father.

With a scowl Albus pushed himself away from the desk. He would have to read the rest of the letters when he came back from the meeting. He grimaced and swore when he took a step and his shoe whistled. From the big shoes and the colourful clothes he was wearing he guessed he was dressed like one of those clowns the muggles seemed so fond of.

Already knowing that there was nothing he could do about it Albus headed over to his fireplace. He knew that he would have to suffer through the meeting with badly hidden snickers and jokes. Ever since they had been thrown out of Grimmauld Place they had been forced to relocate the headquarter. For the time being they held the meetings at the Burrow, although they were searching for another place to stay. While Molly Wesley played the perfect host Albus preferred a more secure place. It just did not give the same feeling of being a hero when he was sitting in the Weasleys' living room and telling them his plans.

Ignoring Fawkes' amused sounds Albus walked over to his fireplace to take the floo to the Burrow. He knew the members of the Order of the Phoenix would be waiting for their grant leader to arrive. He would alert them of a new possible ally. That should be enough to get them to look after Evan James. And if the brat tried to tell them that he was Harry Potter Albus knew that no one would believe the boy. After all, he himself had said that he had killed the Potter boy and what reason did they have not to believe him?

There were benefits of being the proclaimed defeater of Gellert Grindelwald. Though he had loved the man with his whole heart Albus had been aware of the way the world viewed his past lover. They did simply not understand what a great mind Gellert had been and because of Potter they would never get the chance to understand it.

But one day, when both Potter and Voldemort were out of the way he would make them understand. And those who tried to go against him would disappear. They were lambs and he was the shepherd. They would follow his every command and there would be no one there to stop him from doing it.

**)00(**

The bath had left him feeling refreshed and cleaner than he had done for a long time. As he had predicted, the houseelves had once again left him pyjamas, green but that was no surprise. Harry rested his forehead against the window's cool glass and sighed. From his seat at the window he had a great view over the magnificent garden. Unlike Snape's garden this one was not only filed with useful herbs, but Harry was also sure that there was not a single muggle comity nearby.

No matter how hard Harry tried he could not imagine Voldemort living among muggles. But it would be the perfect way to hide from the dark lord's enemies since they would not expect to look for him among those people which he killed.

A big forest started where the garden ended and reached as far as he could see. Since he was unable to leave the room Harry had no idea about how big the forest actually was. A feeling in his gut told him that it surrounded the whole place.

His long hair hung down his back, still wet from his bath. Unable to dry his hair with magic he had wrapped a towel around it, but the towel now lay at the floor where he had left it when he had decided that the sun spot at the window would help him with drying his hair faster.

Nagini lay at the bed, seemingly fast asleep. The snake did not seem worried about him getting away and Harry had a feeling that she was right. Without magic there was not much he could do about his situation, especially not when he had no idea about where he was and he was dealing with Slytherins and fully trained wizards and witches. Because of the potion Snape was feeding him none of them used magic on him but Harry did not trust any of them enough to believe that that it would continue if he tried to do something.

Sighing he shifted so his side now was pressed against the window. He missed the times where his life was simple and where he only had to worry about one maniac being after his life. Now he was believed dead, and most of those who knew he was alive hated him and wanted him dead.

Right now he could be with Hermione and Ron outside by the lake, enjoying the good weather. Hermione would have her nose in a thick book while Ron and he would be discussing moves in Quidditch and how the next Quidditch match would go. Hermione would look up from her book and would berate them for not doing their homework. Then Ron would say something stupid which would make her mad at the red haired boy. When Hermione would return to her book Ron would then turn to him and ask if it was that time of the month. That would usually end with Ron having a sore head and Hermione would give him the silent treatment for some time.

Harry felt something wet hit his hand and his sight was blurry. He lifted his hand and realise, after looking outside and seeing the still blue sky that he was crying. Not wanting to alert Nagini of it Harry buried his head in his knees and wrapped his arms around his legs.

Sobs wracked through his body and Harry bit his lower lip. He missed his friends, Hogwarts, which had been his home until he had bought the cottage. He wanted to play Quidditch, hell, he would be happy to sit through a potion lesson where Snape would belittle him and the Slytherins would ruin his potion by throwing things in it.

But it would also mean that he never would have gotten to know Mortimus, Hubert, Ares and Luna's great aunt. Even worse he would never have gotten to know Nagini and Tom the way he did.

But it did not lessen the feeling of his former friends' betrayal. He had known about it since the day where he had seen the Weasleys and Hermione in Diagonal Alley. It had only become more real after reading books about what they had said about him, hearing it from Remus and then when he had met them.

The whole time he had been able to push it away and concentrate on something else. Escaping both Voldemort and Dumbledore and generally just trying to stay alive had been good enough to take his thoughts off of things. But here there was not much to distract him and Harry felt the betrayal eat him up from the inside.

He wanted to meet his two former friends, if only to say them a few true words. He was not sure what else he would do. Harry wanted revenge but getting Dumbledore out of the way was far more important for him. But should he get the chance he would not hold himself back from letting Hermione and Ron know just what he thought of the two of them. One would think that after all what they had been through they would have been smart enough to think a little for themselves.

Harry let out a frustrated growl. He wanted to hit something and before he could think it through Harry followed with the thought. He clenched his fist and hit the wall in front of him repeatedly.

Tears ran down his cheeks but Harry ignored them. He let himself become absorbed in the pain and ignored everything else around him. It felt good to feel the physical pain it drowned out the pain from his heart.

A scaly body wrapped itself around his body. Effectively stopping him from harming himself further than he had already done. "**Evan, you stupid boy, what do you think you are doing?**" Harry slowly looked away from his now bleeding hands and meet Nagini's gaze. The snake held him in a secure grip to make sure that he could not harm himself further.

"**Evan, are you with me?**" The snake sounded truly worried about him and Harry managed to force a small smile on his lips. Not really feeling like talking Harry buried his face in Nagini's body and continued crying. Nagini stayed where she was, hugging him closely. "**I have not seen you act like this since you awoke from one of your nightmares so many years ago.**"

Harry sniffed. "**I am all alone. They all hate me. I trusted them. I was willing to give up my life for them and they still think I am evil**." Nagini's body tightened around him, stopping him fully from moving. "**Silly boy, I am here for you and so are the blondes, Snape and Tom. You are not alone; you have a family in us**."

Harry shook his head, not saying anything. He leaned into the hug and enjoyed the feeling of having Nagini this close to him. They had been like this in the past when he had awoken from a nightmare or when they were just cuddling. Of course Nagini had been much smaller at that time and had not been able to stop him from moving if he had wanted to do so.

"Potter why are you crying?" Harry's head snapped up and he glared at the blonde standing in the doorway. "I am not crying." He snapped and Draco raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then why are tears running down your cheeks? Or is it just something which I am imagining?" Harry tried to move so he was no longer facing the blonde, but Nagini tightened her grip slightly, stopping him from doing so.

"**Show him your hands**." Harry glared at the snake and then looked back at the blonde who had stepped towards them and then had stopped when Nagini had started hissing. "**I do not think so, I do not need his help**."

"**Stupid boy, when do you realise that you are not alone? You need to get the wounds looked at, or they will become infected. I doubt that Tom will be happy if you refuse help when you need it. Besides, you do not want the Malfoy hatchling to get into troubles, do you?**"

"Potter, what have you done to yourself?"

While Harry and Nagini had been talking, Draco had moved closer, eyeing the big snake nervously the whole time. Now the Malfoy heir stood towering over him and was looking pointy at his still bleeding hands. Harry gulped and tried to move away, but Nagini did not bulge.

"It is nothing." Harry mumbled while he continued glaring at Draco, silently daring the blonde to do anything. He was not in a mood to deal with Mortimus' great grandson right now.

Draco snorted and sat down next to him, catching quick glances at the big snake. When Nagini did nothing, he snatched one of Harry's hands and held it so he could examine it closely. "To you Potter, nothing, as you call it, is the same as a deadly wound for us normal people. I have seen you some of the times you have ended in the hospital wing and it was not a pretty sight. Now sit still."

The blonde said and yanked on his hand, causing Harry to stop his struggles. "I fail to see why you even bother with this. Why do you even care? It is not like we are friends or something." Harry was shocked when Draco's face was filled with regret for a short moment before it closed off and he was wearing his cold Slytherin mask Harry knew so well from his school time.

"As you might remember I offered you my friendship back at the train in our first year but you rejected my hand." Draco looked at him shortly before he turned his gaze back to Harry's wounded knuckles. "You are lucky, it does not seem like anything is broken."

"You were an arrogant prat back then and you were rude against the first friend I had made." Harry gritted the words out through clenched teeth.

"I warned you Potter, that some wizards were better than others. And what do you mean that he was your first real friend? You are Harry Potter, saviour of the Wizarding world. I am sure that your muggle family loved to pamper you and you had plenty of friends although they were only muggles."

Harry snorted and snatched his hand away from Draco. "As if, my so called family hated me. They hated magic and thought that they could beat it out of me. If you want to know my bedroom from the moment I came to live with them was the cupboard under the stairs. My cousin kept all the other kids away from me and my uncle and aunt spread lies about me, so no one dared to come near me. When I started at Hogwarts they said that I went to St. Brutus for incurable criminal boys."

His voice was monotone as Harry spoke of his past. True, he had gotten his revenge on the Dursleys, but it did not mean that he had forgiven them. As he had said, he washed his hands clean. They were on their own from now on. He shortly wondered what had happened to Vernon. The man was probably still in the dog form since they would have to contact someone from the Wizarding world to get him turned back. It was something which Harry hoped would never happen. The world would be a much better place without Vernon Dursley being there.

Draco's face first went paler than it usually was before it slowly turned red. Harry watched with interest, silently wondering what would happen now. Not even Ron or Hermione had known all this about his home life. Sure, they had each known some of things but not the whole picture. And for that he was thankful for or all his secrets could be over the whole Wizarding world.

"How dare they? Here in the Wizarding world child abuse is punished hard and there is a good reason for that. The more fear and stress a child feels the more violent is the accidental magic they do. No one is stupid enough to try and lay a hand on a magically child, not if they want to be unharmed."

Harry looked in shock at the blonde, not daring to open his mouth. It was the first time he saw Draco like this. Usually the Slytherin boy was so calm and collected. Harry shrugged the best he could in the position he was in. "Well, there is nothing to do about it. It happened a long time ago and it is not like there is anything they can do to me any longer. Besides, I have already gotten the revenge I wanted." At Draco's puzzled look Harry grinned. "Let us just say, that my uncle is living a dog's life, literally and my aunt and cousin are feeling the pain I felt."

The blonde was silent for a long time and Harry was starting to wonder if he had somehow managed to break the boy. He doubted that Lucius would be happy when he found out that he had damaged his heir's brain. "I have said it before and I am not afraid of saying it again. You belong in Slytherin and you made a mistake by convincing the Sorting Hat into placing you with the lions. But I think that the dark lord will be interested in this piece of information."

Harry paled at the blonde's words; he had not thought that Voldemort would get to know about it. If that had been the case he would have kept his mouth shut. "Do that I and will make you regret it. I am sure that your great grandfather will be able to tell you about some of the pranks I pulled on Dumbledore. Even with magic you will not be able to go free."

"**That thread might work on blondie, but nothing is stopping me from telling Tom about it, Evan**."

The snake's words made Harry groan and he let his eyes fell close. He already knew that it would be of no use to argue with Nagini. She was just as strong headed as him and nothing would make her change her mind.

Harry stayed silent as Draco cleaned and bandaged his wounds. He grimaced when the blonde held something on the wounds to clean them. With potions the wounds would have been gone in a matter of seconds but thanks to the potion Snape was giving him it was not a possibility.

"Well, that should do it. I will have mother or Sev to look at them next time they come by since I am no healer but I do not think that you will get any problems with them." Harry sighed when Nagini finally let go of him and slit out of the door. It seemed like her watch now was over and he had no doubt that she was heading towards Voldemort to inform him about what she had leaned.

Harry was fully prepared to ignore Draco for the blonde's watch but it seemed like the Malfoy heir was having none of that.

"I heard the rumours about your home life when we were at Hogwarts, but like everybody else I did not really believe them. Why should I? You are the saviour of the Wizarding world, you were bound to be a spoiled brat, everybody knew that."

"Then everybody was mistaken." A sudden thought stuck Harry. "None of you purebloods are at school."

"Some are, those who it is not known that their parents are death eaters stayed at Hogwarts, after all the dark lord needs spies so he knows what Dumbledore is doing. But most of us have been brought home by our families."

"But what about your education? From what I have understood it is important for you people."

Draco rolled his eyes. "And what do you think we do when we are not watching you, twiddling thumbs? We are being home schooled. With all those people following the dark lord we are getting a better education than we would get at Hogwarts."

Harry smirked. "At least I do not have to worry about my education."

"What are you talking about, Potter? Of course you are going to need an education, just because you are with the dark lord it does not mean that you-"

"First of all, I am not together with Voldemort." Harry cut Draco off before the blonde boy could continue his rant. He had learned from Hermione that she was easier to stop early before she talked herself warm. "And I have already taken my N.E.W.T.'s. It is over fifty years ago and it was under another name but I still did it and there is no way in hell that I am going to do all that study again."

Draco looked at him for a long time before taking forth a parchment and a quill. Harry watched in silence before his curiosity got the better of him. "What are you doing?" The blonde looked up from the parchment. "Well, since you have already finished the N.E.W.T.'s you will help me with my assignment in Herbology and afterwards we will work on my Defence Against the Dark Arts and so we will move on to transfiguration."

Harry groaned and let his head hit the window's glass with a thump. He could have told that Draco would say something like that. The other boy was after all a Slytherin and they knew how to use everything and everyone to their own advantage.

**)00(**

"Guess who." A soft male voice surrounded him at the same time as soft hands were placed on his eyes and stopped him from seeing the cauldron in front of him. "Lucius if you do not let go of me right now and here then you are going to lose something very dear to you." The hands quickly let go of him and the person behind him stepped away so their front no longer was pressed against his back.

"How did you know that it was me? I was so silent, and I know for sure that you did not hear me come in." Severus rolled his eyes and continued working on the potion in his cauldron. "First of all, you did not disguise your voice, what kind of person would I be if I could not recognise my own lover's voice. Currently we are only three people in the manor, seeing that it is Draco's turn to watch over Potter, and Narcissa knows better than to disturb me when I am working on a potion."

"Severus, you wound my heart. If I did not know better, I would say that you no longer love me."

Severus sighed; already knowing that he would not get any peace from his lover before Lucius was no longer bored. He put a stasis charm on the potion. After all the potion was for Potter so he could not afford botching it. And his pride as a potion master would not allow him to make any mistakes with a potion as simple as this one.

When he was sure that the potion could be left on its own he finally turned around to face one of his lovers. Lucius was clad in simple but elegant robes. The pale blue colour brought forth his pale skin, blonde hair and grey eyes. Everything he loved about the man. Severus had yet to find something imperfect about his lover. It should be the fact that he had an annoying habit of disturbing him when he was working on a potion. Especially when the blonde thought that he had spent enough time in the dark and needed some fresh air and sun, as the Malfoy put it.

"What do you want?" Severus asked before Lucius stepped close and pressed his lips against his. It was by no means a gentle kiss, but it was just the way that Severus wanted it.

When they broke off both where short on breath. Severus stepped away before Lucius was able to continue molesting him. There were things he was not willing to do in a potion lab, no matter if it was his own or another person's.

"Potter and Voldemort are not going to get together without a little help." Lucius blinked, obviously surprised but the sudden change of subject. The blonde raised an eyebrow. "And I suppose that you have a plan for this?"

"Of course, I am a Slytherin."

They shared another kiss while Lucius lead him out of the laboratory. "Are you going to share the details with me or is it a secret?" Severus smiled one of his rare smiles. "I am going to need your and Narcissa's help so I suppose that I will have to tell the two of you about my plan. But it will have to wait until we are together all three, I do not want to explain things more than once."

"You will not need a second time; after all we are not some of your students."

Severus blinked because of the sudden change of light when they stepped out of the laboratory. "No you are not. I would not share my bed with a student of mine."

Lucius' laughter filled the hallway as they walked down it on their way to find Narcissa so Severus could explain the two Malfoys his plan for how they should get Potter and Voldemort together.

**Review, or I will let Dumbledore kill Voldemort and take Harry as his sex slave.**

**Next: What is the plan and will Snape and his lovers carry it out? There is only one way to find out. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks for all those reviews, how could you honestly believe that I would let Dumbledore take Harry as his sex slave? *Shudders* That is just not going to happen as long as I am alive. And if something like that happens there will always be someone to save Harry from it and hopefully also to help him through the trauma. Believe me, anyone going through that is going to need help.**

**Disclaimer: If you have read the prequel you have probably figured out that this is a slash story, which means boyXboy. Just thought you people would like to be warned. **

**Beta: ****angelhitomie **

He returned to his chambers late that night, after having been on a minor rail. Nagini had informed him about Evan's abusive past, apparently she had not seen any reason to inform him about it before now. True, Evan had told him about it before but only the small things and Voldemort had never really gotten a picture of how bad it actually had been, but even then it had strengthened his hate for muggles.

When he stepped into his bedchamber he saw that Evan was already fast asleep, unaware of Nagini who was standing guard until her master returned. Voldemort watched his lover sleep in the moonlight from the window. Evan had managed to kick the covers off of him and was curled into a small ball, shivering despite the room's temperature.

Voldemort could not help but smile softly as he watched his sleeping lover. How Evan managed to look like he did not have a single worry in the world, he would never know. But that was all a part of Evan's charm and he did not want his lover in any other way.

He banished the blood from his person, deciding to take a bath in the morning. Right now he just wanted to be with his lover. Those who had failed him had already been punished while others had been rewarded for their doings under the raid. It had just been a little raid to show people that he was still there. That way people would fear him. And those who let fear dominate their life made mistakes which he could use to his advantage.

After undressing himself and leaving his bloodied robes at the floor where he knew that the houseelves would remove them from, he crawled onto the bed, making sure that he did wake neither Evan nor Nagini. Despite all the days which had passed Evan still put up a fight when they went to bed. Voldemort was patient, or at least he tried to be so. He knew that Evan had to become comfortable with the things he had done. His lover was innocent and did not understand what had to be done to win a war.

Voldemort lay down and moved around until he was spooning Evan from behind. His lover let out a sigh and snuggled closer to him. He smiled and wrapped his arms around Evan so his lover would not be able to get away, after he had used the covers to cover the both of them.

Lifting his head Voldemort looked down at the foot of the bed, not surprised to see the snake there. She spent the nights and mornings together with Evan until lunch arrived. Then she would either join him in whatever he was doing or go on a hunt. Often she went after Wormtail, who just did not seem to learn that it was not a good idea to turn into a rat when a snake was hunting him.

Severus had informed him earlier this day that Evan would no longer need the cream since his body was now fully healed from the torture he had went through when he had been held captured by Dumbledore. It did not mean that he would stop the massage he was giving his lover. Evan fought him at first, but he usually relaxed once he was finished with him.

Voldemort sighed and buried his now hair free face in Evan's long, black hair. He had removed the moustache the day after he had taken the potion from Severus. It made him look younger and besides, most purebloods did not have any facial hair unless they were very old or did not just care about the way they looked.

He smiled smugly when Evan let out a content sigh and snuggled closer to him. In his sleep Evan let down his guard and acted the way that he remembered him. The only thing he now missed was to make Evan act that way when he was awake. Voldemort knew that he had a lot of work in front of him before that would happen. Evan was headstrong and something drastically would have to happen before he changed his mind.

Slowly Voldemort carded his fingers through his lover's hair. Letting his hair grow out was probably one of the best decisions Evan could have made, at least it did not look like he was wearing a bird's nest on the top of his head. And getting rid of the glasses made him look even less like the boy he had spend so many years on trying to kill.

Voldemort knew that their relationship was a mess and although he wanted to he knew that it was not something which they could just ignore. At least Evan would not let him forget about it. His lover used every chance he got to point out the fact that he had tried to kill him, but did not understand that it was before he had found out that Potter and Evan were the same person.

**)00(**

When Harry awoke something heavy was draped over his waist and something was poking into his back. Harry lay unmoving in the bed and stared out of the window. The sun was already up and usually he would have been up and about by now.

He did not need to look behind him to know who was holding him so close to their firm body. He had gone to bed alone last night and the dark lord had probably come back while he had been asleep. From Snape he knew that Voldemort had been out on some raid but the potion master had refused to tell him more than that. Harry had a feeling that Voldemort was still not happy with the potion master having hid Harry from him. It was probably why Snape had been with him instead of being on the raid.

Before he had left Snape had informed him that he no longer needed to cream and Harry could not help but feel a slight disappointment. It seemed like he would have to go without massage from Voldemort from now on. Harry knew that he was not supposed to feel like that, but being this close to the dark lord brought back memories from his time with Tom and he somehow managed to forget about his situation.

Looking down at the foot of the bed Harry found that Nagini was missing and he frowned. Usually the big snake would stay with him until around lunch, then she would disappear to Merlin knew where.

Feeling Voldemort move behind him brought Harry out of his thoughts. The dark lord mumbled something unintelligible and hugged him closer, which Harry had not thought was possible in their current position.

Harry nearly forgot how to breathe when the man trusted into his backside. Harry bit his lower lip until a metallic taste filled his mouth and closed his eyes. He could not deny that the movements behind him sent his blood downwards. He meowed lowly. It had been so long since he last had been together with someone, but it did not mean that he wanted to do it with the dark lord.

With a final thrust Harry felt something wet and rapidly cooling his backside. Harry felt his face get coloured, the only cloth separating them was his pyjamas bottoms since Voldemort insisted on sleeping naked. Though Harry was not happy about it, he was thankful that he at least was allowed to wear something into bed. He was not sure he would be able to sleep if he was forced to be naked in a bed together with lord Voldemort.

"Evan." The word was so soft spoken that Harry did nearly not hear it as Voldemort buried his face in his hair and breathed deeply. He wondered shortly if people would believe him if he told them that the dark lord liked to snuggle in his sleep.

Chances were that people would believe him mad and lock him in somewhere. That was if Voldemort did not get his hands on him first.

Harry moved and grimaced at the sticky feeling. He had to find some way to get free without waking Voldemort so he could take a bath. It sounded easy enough if just Voldemort would let go off of him.

"Damn it you git, if you could just let go of me, I would be happy." Harry mumbled lowly as he worked on getting himself freed. Harry froze when Voldemort moved behind him. The man mumbled something and then went back to sleep again. Harry let out a breath he did not know he had been holding.

Harry twisted his body and finally managed to get free from Voldemort's death grip. Keeping an eye on the sleeping man Harry crawled backwards over the bed, until he reached the edge and could place his feet on the floor. When Voldemort did still not react Harry hurriedly turned away and strode over to the bathroom.

When he closed the door behind him, Harry allowed himself to relax. He knew that there was no lock on this side of the door but he honestly doubted that Voldemort would wake up anytime soon. Even dark lord's needed their sleep,

Harry walked over to the back of the bathroom where a big shower stall was hidden. On his way he took off his pyjamas bottoms, only too happy to get out of them so he no longer had to walk around with them sticking to his skin.

His underwear followed the pants and Harry stepped into the shower stall and let the glass door close behind him before he turned on the water. He sighed in relief when the hot water hit him from above. It was his second bath without supervision and he enjoyed it fully.

At least he was pretty sure that Nagini would not be able to sneak up on him this time.

The bath was big enough for two people to be in there. Harry could not help but wonder what Voldemort wanted with all that space. Unless of course the man had had others to share the bath with.

Although Harry was not sure why, he could not help but feeling jealous at the thought of someone else being with Voldemort. It was not like the man was his lover or anything. And to Tom he had disappeared for fifty years. Voldemort had had every right to take another lover.

And it was not like Harry cared, after all Voldemort and Tom were two different persons.

**)00(**

Voldemort awoke to the sound of running water. Looking around he saw that both Nagini and Evan were missing from the bedroom. Since only the three of them could enter the room without his permission. And since Evan was unable to leave his room it was not hard for him to figure out who was in the bath.

Despite the short time he had slept Voldemort felt well rested. It had been like that ever since he had gotten Evan back in his bed. Technically it was him who had come back in bed, since Evan had been there for some time but he had been unable to join his lover because of the connection which had been between them.

With the connection gone Evan no longer felt pain by being close to him. To Voldemort it was only a good thing since he now was able to be near his lover without causing him pain.

Voldemort slowly sat up, his muscles arched from the raid last night. Aurors had shown up while they had been attacking a light family. Voldemort did not know the victims' names nor did he care about such a small thing. The most important thing was that they had opposed him. None of his followers had been killed, but both Narcissa and Severus had been busy with taking care of the wounded when they had returned to the headquarters.

Feeling something sticky on his skin Voldemort looked down and raised an eyebrow. It seemed like he had, what he supposed was called a wet dream. He had not had a wet dream for a long time. Since he had started splitting his soul he had stopped dreaming. After drinking the potion his dreams had slowly returned but now were the first time where his dreams had had a sexual contest.

He banished the mess he had made in his sleep. With Evan in another room he could use magic without fearing it would have any consequences for Evan. Knowing that he had already overslept, luckily it was not like anything could start without him being there, Voldemort got out of bed. After all, he had raids to plan, people to torture and a war to win.

On his way across the floor he shortly noted that Nagini was nowhere to be seen. Assuming she was with Evan in the bathroom.

He opened a closet and found midnight blue robes to wear. Voldemort took them out of the closet and turned around. He would have to visit Severus later today and hear how many had been wounded last night and if they had all been healed.

A sound made Voldemort look up and red eyes connected with green. Evan had come out of the bathroom while he had been searching for something to wear. His lover had moved soundlessly and Voldemort had no idea about when he had arrived, he had not even heard the water be turned off.

Green eyes slowly travelled down his body, taking in every single detail. Voldemort stood patiently and waited for his lover to finish. He knew that his body was a masterpiece; people had worshipped it before it began to change when he made the hocruxes. Evan was the only one who had never worshipped his body; the boy had simply loved it because it was a part of him.

"Do you like what you see?" Voldemort smirked when a blush coloured his lover's cheeks. Evan had been unaware of what he had been doing which suited Voldemort just fine. It meant that Evan at some plane recognised him as his lover. Now he just had to make the boy realise it.

"As if, I am just surprised how much you have changed from old snake face." Despite the words Evan's voice had no bite. Voldemort's eyes glinted. Perhaps it would not be so hard to make Evan realise that he loved him as he had thought it would be.

This time Voldemort took his time to take in every detail of Evan. He had ordered the houseelves not to give his lover anything else than pyjamas bottoms to wear. It gave him the possibility to watch his lover without Evan feeling too underdressed. At the same time it had made it easier to gain access to Evan's wound without having to wrestle too much clothes off of him.

A frown marred his face when Voldemort tried to open the door and it did not bulge. He tried a few more times but ended up with the same result. Voldemort checked his wards, to him they looked the same. But although he had read about wards and warding it was not one of the subjects he had studied the most.

Hearing a snicker behind him he turned around and glared at Evan who had moved from the door leading to the bathroom to sitting on the edge of the bed. "Having any troubles, Voldemort?" The boy titled his head to the side and stared at him with wide green eyes, the perfect sign of submission.

"It seems like someone has done something to my wards."

Evan did not let himself get stopped of his biting words. "Really, it is a shame that you are not a ward maker, then you could easily find out what was wrong and get out of here."

**)00(**

Harry did not even try to keep the smug tone out of his voice but he did not deny that shivers ran down his spine when Voldemort continued glaring at him. "If you are so good, then undo whatever keeps me inside. I have things which need to be done and as soon as I find out who has done this they are going to pay for it."

Harry could barely contain his smirk. "I wish I could help you, but with these on, I am afraid you will have to wait until someone comes to look for you." It took three steps before Voldemort was standing right in front of him and Harry's breath got caught in his throat. In their current position Harry was facing Voldemort's groin. Harry had to lay his head back to meet the dark lord's gaze. "Maybe you are unable to do it. But you can tell so that I can do it."

He looked away, seemingly bored. "If there is one thing you Slytherins have taught me, then it is not to do anything without getting paid for it."

Harry had not uttered the last word before he found himself pressed against the bed with Voldemort hovering over him. "Then I will just have to pay you." Harry tried to kick Voldemort off of him, but the older wizard used his larger body to keep him still. "Sorry, but the price is not to be changed. Either you take off those cuffs or I am not going to tell you how to get out of your own bedroom."

"But you might have realised that both of us are unable to leave, and, as you pointed it out before, this is the bedroom, there are only a few things which can be done." Harry shrugged the best he could in his position and continued looking away from Voldemort. "Then go to sleep, it is not like I care. At least there will be silent then."

"But that was not what I meant when I talked about things to do."

"Then what do you mean?"

Voldemort sighed, as if he was carrying a heavy burden. "Must I really spell everything out for you?" Harry raised an eyebrow but did otherwise not react. Voldemort sighed.

Harry's eyes widened when Voldemort's lips clashed with his own. It was by no way a gentle kiss. Both fought for domination. Voldemort forced his tongue into his mouth and Harry clamped his teeth down around it.

The boy gasped as the larger man yanked his pyjamas bottoms down and all but ripped them from him. Voldemort raised himself a little up and looked down on him, making Harry feel smaller than he actually was. "You are mine." Voldemort said. Pushing Voldemort's shoulders Harry broke the kiss.

"Let go of me." He said while shaking his head. Voldemort's lips curled and his eyes flashed. "No." He sat up and pulled off his robe. Harry took the moment of distraction to push Voldemort off of him and rolled onto his stomach. Jumping down from the bed and landing on his feet he moved across the floor, naked and stumbling.

He had almost reached the door to the bathroom when he was tackled to the floor from behind. Voldemort's voice sounded in his ear, one arm was crossing his smooth chest to grip his shoulder and held him against the bigger body behind him.

"Stupid little Evan, did you really think that you could run from me?" Voldemort snapped and brought his free hand up to his mouth. "There is only one way this is going to end. Stop fighting. We both know that your heart is not really in it."

Harry shivered and took the fingers into his mouth and started sucking. Shuddering Harry made sure that the fingers were wet. In the past Tom would have taken time to prepare him and use a spell to lubricate him. It seemed like it would not be the case this time. Grunting in approval Voldemort pulled the fingers out of his mouth and let them hover between his cheeks.

"Stop resisting Evan, you know that you will like this." He said as he probed the tight hole. Voldemort bit Harry's ear hard as he showed a finger in. Harry cried out and his back ached. It had been too long since he had been together with Tom and Voldemort was not exactly gentle.

The preparation was dirty. It seemed like Voldemort had no plans about foreplay. Harry heard him spitting into his hand and guessed the man was coating his cook. Harry found his legs spread by Voldemort's knees.

As Voldemort pressed the head of his cock against his entrance Harry tried to force his body to relax. When Voldemort's thighs bunched and he surged forward Harry's vision went red and he let out a cry. In one trust Voldemort was buried inside him to the hilt. Voldemort started rubbing his stomach.

Harry panted as he tried to get used to the feeling of Voldemort's cock inside him. Even back in the past the first penetration had stung and caused his legs to tremble when they were in a position like this. An indrawn breath was the only warning he got before Voldemort started to move.

Hard and deep thrusts jerked his body forward and forced Harry to fall down on his hands and knees. The sound of slapping of skin and cries and grunts filled the air as Harry got lost in the feeling and the act.

Harry gasped when a cold hand grasped around his throbbing cock which had been neglected until now. The jerks were rough and he suddenly heard Voldemort growl into his ear. "Come for me, Evan. Show me who you belong to." Harry mewled and gasped. His inner walls clenched around Voldemort's length. "Show me who it is you love."

"Tom!" He yelled as the orgasm came and he lost his sight. He felt Voldemort release into him and groaned when the seed filled him.

They collapsed on the floor, Harry with Voldemort on top of him. Harry blinked as his vision returned and he shifted a little to look up at Voldemort. The dark lord was looking down at him with a glint in his eyes which Harry recognised. Tom usually had it when they had just finished making love together.

Harry winced at the pain in his arse. He licked his lips slowly and felt more than saw Voldemort's eyes follow the movement. A blush coloured his cheeks when Harry finally realised what had happened. He had just let the dark lord fuck him, something which he had never thought would ever happen.

As if sensing his thoughts a hand started rubbing his back in a calming motion. "Are you hurt?" If not because he knew better he would have said that Voldemort actually sounded worried. "It has been so long."

Despite the pain he felt when he moved, Harry curled into a ball as much as he was able to in their current position. Voldemort let out a sigh and rolled off of him. "It seems like we will not be getting out anytime soon."

Without anymore words Voldemort scooped him up and gently carried him over to the bed. Harry let him, for once not protesting over the close contact. He was tired to the bone and already now his eyes were dropping. All he wanted was to curl up and sleep, hopefully then pain would be gone when he awoke although Harry really doubted it.

Harry felt how he was being placed on the gently bed and as soon as the arms let go off him he curled into a ball once again and let out a satisfied sigh. Shortly after that, he felt Voldemort lay down next to him and covering both of them with the covers.

Voldemort gathered him to his chest. Harry just let him do it. Right now he was too tired, satisfied and sore to do anything to protest. He laid his head on Voldemort's chest and listened as Voldemort's heartbeat slowed down as he drifted off to sleep.

When Harry was sure that Voldemort was not awake any longer he lifted his head and stared at the dark lord. Voldemort seemed almost innocent, if one could call him that, in his sleep. It was hard to imagine that he had killed hundreds of people's lives.

Harry shook his head, deciding not to think about it any longer. He would try and figure out where they stood when he had slept. Right now he found it hard to connect two thoughts without exerting himself.

"I love you." Harry said, not really sure if it was to Tom or to Voldemort. At the moment they seemed to melt together and become one person. He placed a soft kiss on the man's cheek before Harry allowed himself to join Voldemort in the world of Morpheus.

**)00(**

Severus looked up from the potion book which he had brought with him early this morning and stared at the door. Since the dark lord had awaited his rapport it had been easy for him to enter without alerting anyone about it.

He had found the dark lord's snake in the front room. Unsure of how much she could understand Severus had taken time to explain Nagini about his plan to get Potter and the dark lord back together. It seemed like it had been enough to stop the snake from attacking him when he had placed the spell on the dark lord's door.

Later Lucius and Narcissa had joined him. Neither had been willing to let him face the dark alone when their master and friend once got out of the room. The only reason to why they had not been with him from the start was that nothing short of a catastrophe could force the two of them out of bed before it was well over the morning.

"What do you think they are doing?" Lucius was the first to speak up since they had entered. Severus looked at his lover and then back at the bedroom door. They had heard angry voices a little while ago, but after some time it had gone quiet in the room.

Hopefully they had not killed each other.

"Hopefully they are following the plan and making up. It will save us from going through this kind of troubles once again." He drawled before turning his attention back to the book he had been reading.

Severus smirked as he thought of his plan. It was rather simple if he should say so himself. By making it so no one could leave the bedroom Potter and Voldemort would be forced to talk together. Hopefully it would be enough to vanish the tension between them.

"I think it is rather amusing, that the dark lord does not even think of trying to use Alohomora to get out."

Severus nodded to Narcissa before leaning back in the chair.

Sometimes the simplest methods were the most effective.

**)00(**

Harry was practically bouncing around the walls while he ignored the glares which Draco sent in his direction. Harry grinned and winked at the blonde before he continued down the corridor with Draco hot on his heels.

"Potter, wait. The dark lord only agreed on letting you out if you behaved. Running around like a wild and not staying with me is definitely not behaving." Harry rolled his eyes while he swirled around, dancing out of Draco's reach. "Take it easy, Draco. You make it sound like I am some kind of a pet."

He grinned at the blonde's scowl. It was not like Draco could do anything to make him stay still when he had finally gotten out of that blasted bedroom.

Harry had made it clear that he was going mad staring at the same four walls day in and day out. He was used to move around like he wanted to. Only the Dursleys had been able to keep him one room for a longer time and even then Harry had felt madness creep closer. Like a predator hunting its prey.

"Perhaps I should ask the lord to get a leash for you then." Harry stopped and turned around so he was facing Draco while placing his hands on his hips. "Do not even think about it, Draco. Besides, I doubt that Voldemort will be happy to know that you have such thoughts about me." Harry smirked when Draco's cheeks were coloured by his blush. "That was not what I meant and you know that, Potter."

Grinning Harry just shrugged and turned his back to the blonde. "Hey, Draco, where are you people hiding the kitchen?" He could almost see the blonde's confused expression without even looking at him. "What do you want in a kitchen, Potter? The way you were in the potion classroom spells catastrophe."

"You would be surprised if you realised how little you actually know about me, Draco." Harry said in a sing song voice. "Now, are you going to show me where the kitchen is, or are we going to walk around like this until I eventually stumble over it?"

Hearing the blonde sigh Harry knew that he had already won the argument. "Very well, Potter, follow me." Draco brushed past him and Harry lengthened his steps to be able to follow with him without falling behind. Although Voldemort had promised him that no harm would befall him Harry felt far from safe. After all this was the dark lord's home and death eaters were probably walking around although he had yet to see anyone.

It turned out that the way the way to the kitchen was short now where Draco was leading the way. Harry assumed it was because Draco knew his way around the place and was tired of walking.

The kitchen was big and white. A big table was placed in the middle of the room while ovens were placed along the walls. Kitchenwares hung on the wall or were placed where they were easy to reach. None of it was muggle but Harry supposed it did not mean much. After all he had mostly cooked the wizard way when he had lived in the past.

Harry skipped over to one of the houseelves while Draco sat down on a free chair, watching him closely. The houseelf looked up from its work when Harry came near. Harry skipped to it while he felt the nearest houseelves watch him closely.

"Hello, I would like to hear if I might borrow your kitchen for a little while?" The houself's eyes grew impossible wide as Harry talked. "Is master wizard not satisfied with our work? I will punish myself right now, please do not fire me." Before the houseelf could carry out whatever punishment it had planned Harry placed a hand on its arm and smiled gently to it. "It is nothing like that. I am just a little bored and I thought I would bake something."

The houseelf looked doubtfully from him to Draco and back to him again. It was clear what it thought of wizards' cooking skills. Harry shortly wondered what could have made that kind of impression on the houseelf. He nearly started laughing at the image of Voldemort standing in the kitchen, trying to cook. Even back in the past it had been Harry who had been taking care of the cooking.

"Master wizard just have to call and I will come." The houseelf said and bowed deeply before popping out of sight. Harry grinned and shook his head. "Who would have thought that the dark lord would name one of his houseelves after a letter?" He said out loud, already planning on finding out later on how many other houseelves were named like that. He turned towards the table, already knowing what he would make.

"So you really are the dark lord's lover then?" Harry examined the different bowls before choosing the one which suited the task best. "As I have told you before, it seems like we are a couple." He started finding the ingredients which he needed for the mix. "But I thought you hated the dark lord, after all he killed your parents."

Harry paused for a short moment before starting beating the eggs. "I cannot say that I agree with the things he does, and I will probably try and stop him every time possible. And we are both strong headed, so there will be fights between us because we are so different. But I loved Tom and deep, very deep, inside Voldemort Tom is still there. You just have to know where to look. And using my parents in an argument is just dirty and it is not going to work. How can I miss someone I never knew?"

Harry started mixing the sugar and eggs into a white mix. It was far from as simple as he made it sound. To Harry there was way too many things which stopped them from going back to what they once were. The prophecy played a big role although Voldemort tried to make it seem like it was not the case. Harry knew that one of them had to die, and although he wanted to live, he knew that it was most likely going to be him.

Harry shook his head to clear it from thoughts. He would worry about his death when the time came for that. Until then he would enjoy the time he had left. "Honestly Potter, how did you manage to convince him to let you out?" Harry looked up from the bowl and over at Draco who was sitting on the other side of the table. Near enough to see what he was doing but too far away to risk getting something on his robes.

"I promised him that I would not try to escape if he let me walk around." Harry answered with a grin before he turned his attention back to the bowl. "So that was why he sent me with you?" Harry looked shortly at the blonde before looking back at the bowl. "I have no idea about what you mean."

"Potter, how stupid do you think I am?" Harry wisely chose to keep his mouth closed. "You only said that you would not try to escape. If you should manage to do so, no one can say that you broke your promise."

Harry grinned while taking the batter out of the bowl and started dividing it into small potions. "Alright you caught me, but what can I say? It is your own fault, spending so much time with Slytherins is obviously not a good thing for me."

"Maybe it could teach you to take better care of yourself and not to rush into danger?"

Harry smirked at the blonde's words and placed the batter in the oven before turning it on. "Draco, I have already spent many years with Slytherins, what makes you think that more time will be able to change the person I am." Draco hummed shortly. "You are right, you are too thick headed to be able to change."

Instead of taking up the bait Harry offered the bowl to Draco. "Want to taste?" At Draco's expression Harry grinned and shrugged. "Well, it is your loss." He took some batter up and stuck the finger into his mouth, moaning lowly by the taste. In his childhood when he had made anything in the kitchen Dudley had always been the one who got to lick the batter while Harry had to clean up the whole mess. In the cottage Tom had not been willing to lick the bowl and therefore Harry had had it all to himself. It seemed like it would also be the case here.

"If you make such sounds when you are with the dark lord, I understand why he does not want to kill you any longer." Harry's eyes widened at Draco's words and his face started burning. He took the finger out of his mouth and glared at the blonde. "What do you mean with that?"

"When you make sounds like that it goes straight to a man's groin."

Harry was suddenly glad that the table was between them, although it could not stop Draco from doing anything to him it still made Harry feel safer than he would have done if it was not there. "Merlin Potter, can you not tell that I am joking? The dark lord would kill me if I tried anything with you, and besides, I am straight."

Hearing the blonde's words made Harry feel guilty. "Sorry, I-"

"Honestly Potter, you are too easy to mess with. I said it because I knew that I could get some kind of a reaction out of you."

Harry blushed and turned his attention back to the oven. The silence in the kitchen continued on and was only broken by the houseelves who rushed past them, preparing for what looked to be tonight's dinner.

"Well, look at this. Is it not icky little Potter? What are you doing in here instead of being in the dungeon?" Harry froze and slowly turned around to face the door while his eyes narrowed. "Bellatrix." His voice was loaded with hate towards the crazy witch. To Harry many years had passed since the incident in the ministry. He had come to accept that Sirius was dead and it was not his fault. But it did not mean that he would ever forgive his godfather's murderer.

"Dirty little halfblood, missing your dog father? I bet you still cry in the night because you miss him." Harry straightened up in his full height, although it was not much. He felt angry, but calm at the same time, it felt like someone had emptied a bucket with ice water over his head. "To your information, Bellatrix, I am not a halfblood but a first generation pureblood. And if anyone is going to cry, it will be you."

The witch looked straight at him, and shivers ran down his spine by the look in the crazy black eyes. "Icky little Potter has to learn how to talk to his betters, and I will be more than happy to do so. Crucio!"

Harry jumped out of the curse's way and let the bowl fall to the floor while he took hide behind the table. "Damn, crazy witch." From the other side of the table he could hear Bellatrix's laughter as she walked closer. "Little potty Potter is scared, yes? Want to run to his mudblood mother and mudloving farther and tell about how mean little Bellatrix is? That is right, Potter does not have any parents. They are dead." Her laughter rose to a higher tone although Harry could swear that it was not possible.

Despite what he had said to Draco, his parents were still a sore subject for him. And to hear Bellatrix talk about them like that lit his temper up. Harry looked down at the cuffs around his wrists. Without those on he would easily have been able to take care of the witch. As it was right now, he could only hope that Draco would step into his defence, or that someone else would come to his help. Suddenly he understood why Voldemort had not wanted him to leave the bedroom.

"Aunt Bellatrix, stop it right now. Potter is here because the dark lord wishes so. If you harm him, the dark lord is going to be mad at you." Harry let out a sigh when Draco spoke. At least he now knew that the blonde had not abandoned him or was just leaning back and watching the show. Had it been in any other situation Harry would have been amused to hear how Draco spoke to the older witch, as if she was a little child who had done something naughty.

Harry's snicker was cut off when Bellatrix turned her attention to Draco. "Stupid boy. The dark lord would never let such a dirty thing walk around freely. You have helped him in here and for that you will pay. The dark lord only belongs to one and that is me. Crucio."

When the dark witch fired the spell Harry grabbed the bowl and jumped out from his hiding place. "Lestrange, I am over here." He yelled, while trying not to look too much at Draco's twisting form. He doubted that the blonde had ever felt the effects of Cruciatus on his own body before and was impressed that he had not yelled or anything.

As he had hoped Bellatrix cut off the curse and turned to him. One eyebrow rose when she saw him. "So icky Potter came to save the icky traitor?" Harry moved around the table until he was standing between Draco and Lestrange. "Leave Draco alone."

"How sweet, are the two of you lovers? I wonder what the little dragon's parents are going to say about it. That their perfect icky heir is a mudblood lover."

Harry snarled, drawing her attention back to him. "You better try using your brain before you open your mouth. It would not do for Voldemort to hear how you are talking to us." Despite what he had hoped the tread did not seem to work on the woman. "As if the dark lord would ever listen to anything else than your last words, Potter."

"And for what reason, dear Bellatrix, do you believe that you know our dark lord's wish so well?"

All three of them looked over at Narcissa Malfoy who was standing in the doorway, looking like she had run all the way to the kitchen from wherever she had been. "How nice of you to join me, Cissa, I was just about to teach your son a lesson he will not forget anytime soon."

"And what has he done to deserve such a lesson from you?"

If Harry had not known better he would have thought they were talking about an everyday thing instead about Bellatrix being about to torture Draco and possible also him. Though, if he had to guess he would say that Bellatrix would rather kill him than just torture him. "And what do you think our lord would say when he hears that you tried to harm his lover and my son?"

Harry used the distraction the icy voice made and threw the bowl from him. It hit the witch in the head and she stumbled backwards. Shocked she touched her forehead where blood was already trickling down. "Icky little Potter, you will have to greet your dog father from me. Avadra Ke-"

"Stupefy." The red beam hit Lestrange before she could finish the curse and she felt to the floor hard.

Harry stood still and watched Narcissa rush over to her son to check him over. "Are you okay my little Draco? Did she manage to harm you? I swear, Voldemort should never have freed her from Azkaban, she is just not the same as she was before. On the other hand, craziness has always followed the Black family, only a few of us are lucky enough to avoid it."

He felt out of place watching the interaction between mother and son. Harry shortly wondered if his mother would have reacted that way every time he had put himself into danger. Would she hug him while she checked him over to make sure that he had not been hurt? Harry guessed it was one of the things he would never find out.

Finally having made sure that Draco was okay, Narcissa finally turned her attention towards him. "I saw what you did, Harry and it was very stupid. Bellatrix would not have stopped herself from hurting you. She would even have killed you." Harry hung his head, hating the fact that he was being scolded like a little child. It was not like it was the first time he had found himself in such a situation and Harry knew his luck well enough to hope that it would have been enough to help him out of the situation.

Suddenly Harry found himself engulfed in a hug and pressed against a woman's breast. "But I thank you for protecting my Draco." Harry just stood and let her hug him, not really sure what he was supposed to do about it.

Finally Narcissa let go of him and stepped back. "And just what were the two of you doing in the kitchen? Can you imagine my surprise when I heard from the houseelf that you were here and Bellatrix was attacking you?" Harry fidgeted as Narcissa looked from Draco over to him and then back at her son.

"It was my fault, I talked Draco into showing me where the kitchen was. I was bored and wanted to make something." Narcissa stepped over to the turned on oven. "What are you making?"

Harry's face lit up in a grin. "Well, I am baking cookies. That way you can say; Join the dark side, we have cookies." None of the Malfoys reacted at what he had said and Harry sighed. "It is a muggle saying, I thought it is funny."

"Only you, Potter would think of using a muggle saying among purebloods." Draco said and both he and Narcissa shook their head.

**This was actually how Mortimus and I became friends. Before that we always bickered and got into fights with each other. One day our friends got fed up with it and locked us into a bathroom on third floor with the message that we would not get out before we had become friends.**

**Let us just say that it was the start on a beautiful friendship and many great plans about how we are going to get the world domination. I think our friends kind of regretted ever forcing us to become friends.**

**Sorry about the chapter being so late, but I have moved up to some friends and it seems like I am only able to open the corrected chapters from my wonderful beta at my old computer which is at my parents' home. Anyway, I hope to correct that in this weekend. **

**Cheers people. **

**Next: Bellatrix's punishment... I really do not know what else to write, ideas, please. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Another chapter. Yay, I am happy. **

**Beta: ****angelhitomie **

**Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter…well, let us say that it would have been filled with crazy scenes and slash.**

"You have displeased me greatly, Bellatrix." Voldemort said as he slowly crossed the floor, swirling his wand between his fingers. He was only too aware of the way her hunger filled eyes seemed to follow his every move. There had once been a time where he would have enjoyed such an attention from her side, if only because he knew that it was only towards him she was like that.

Voldemort was only just able to contain the anger he had felt since Narcissa had informed him about what her sister had done. "You came into my home, uninvited and attacked my guests."

"But my lord, I saw Potter in your kitchen, baking cookies with-"

"Silence!" Voldemort raised his voice not really yelling, but speaking louder than he normally would do.

The silence in the meeting hall was deafening. His followers were assembled, having been called by him to the meeting. Voldemort wanted them to see Bellatrix's punishment. Voldemort walked past the witch, until he was standing behind her. He watched as she shivered, wondering if it was because of fear or something else. "Those you have attacked were Draco Malfoy, heir of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy nee Black, your nephew and a fellow pureblood."

Whispers broke out among the black clad people and Voldemort let them. This was what he was meant for; manipulating the crowd until they thought and did what he wanted them to.

Voldemort continued his way around Bellatrix, the only sound which could be heard in the big hall was the sound of his shoes against the floor. "The other you attacked, the one you dared to call Potter, is a dear friend and a powerful ally of mine. Originally I would have let him deal with your punishment, but I have a feeling that he would go too easy on you."

The dark lord had tried to come up with a suiting punishment since Narcissa had come through the doors to his office to tell him about what had happened. He supposed he should have known that something would happen. After all, Evan had the worst kind of luck. If he was able to get into trouble, he would end in the middle of them, no matter how impossible it seemed. At the same time it was the same luck which got his lover out of this kind of situation so he guessed it was fate's way of compensating things a little.

Evan had managed to make him agree to let him out of the room for the day. He had claimed he was about to go mad from staring at the same walls all day. Voldemort had agreed on this, he knew Evan and understood that his lover had needed to get out and move. Some people were just not made to sit still. The only demand he had made was that Evan would take a guard with him. The guard would lead him around, make sure that nothing would happen and that Evan did not find a way out of the place.

Since everybody else had been busy at the moment the choice had fallen on Draco Malfoy.

Now where Voldemort was looking back he could see the holes in that plan. After all Draco was a minor and despite his training as a pureblood and once to be lord, he was not up to fight against a fully trained witch.

"Then again, you did insult him and tried to use the killing curse on him, so perhaps he would be more than happy to deal with your punishment."

Voldemort kept his voice low and soft, not leaving a single hint about how angry he actually was. The thought of losing Evan was enough to make his blood boil. "You are a shame to all purebloods."

He moved his gaze away from Bellatrix's disgusting form. The black hair was matted with sweat and grime. Her face was pale and he was nearly sure that her hands were shaking although he was not close enough to be sure about it. "This was once one of my greatest followers, a proud witch who honoured our case. I am afraid that the years in Azkaban have damaged her more than I first had thought was the case. Crucio."

Voldemort watched with only a little interest as the witch fall to the floor, screaming in pain. "If I remember correctly, then you used this very curse to torture the Longbottom pair to insanity. They are staying in a permanent ward at St. Mungo's, living in their own little world."

The screams ended when he cut off the curse. Voldemort turned his back to the audience and walked closer to her until he was standing right in front of the witch who lay flat on the floor, panting as if she had just been out on a long run. "But I do not think that you will be able to keep your mouth closed, so you will not share their fate."

Bellatrix's face was filled with relief and she reached a shaking hand after the hem of his robes. "Thank you, my lord. I am your most faithful servant. Your wish is my demand. I promise that I will not make another mistake like this." The witch stopped speaking when he bent down to her. "But Bellatrix, you still need to be punished, after all you nearly used one of the Unforgiveable on my lover. I cannot look through fingers with that."

The witch's black eyes widened as he spoke. "But my lord I can be the lover you want. You do not need a boy to warm your bed. Women's bodies are more satisfying than a-" Voldemort did not bother with hiding his smirk from view. "And that is where you are wrong. You will never be able to take over my Evan's place. There is a reason to why you have never been able to get into my bed for all those years. Avada Kedavra."

Voldemort stood and walked away from Bellatrix's already limp body. "Let this be a lesson to all of you. Mess with what is mine, and you will suffer the same fate as her, just not as merciful." He gestured to the witch behind him. "You are dismissed."

He was not surprised when Rodolphus Lestrange, Bellatrix's husband, stayed behind when all the others had already left. "My lord, I know that my wife displeased you greatly and what she did was unforgivable, but please allow to let her be buried."

The dark lord stared at the wizard for a long time, trying to decide what he should say. "Get her out of my sight, then I do not care what you do to her."Rodolphus bowed and hurried over to his dead wife. Instead of lifting her he used his wand and left the meeting room with her levitating after him.

Voldemort walked out of the meeting room as the last one. He would go and see how Evan was doing. Narcissa and Severus should have finished their examination of the boys by now. He would not let Evan know what Bellatrix's punishment had been. It would be best for his lover if he did not know.

He knew that Lucius would not be happy once he heard what had happened to the two boys when he came back from his mission. Voldemort suspected that it would take some time since the assignment he had given him seemed harder to get completed than the first had expected it to be.

From what he had heard from the children of his followers who had went to school with Evan and from Severus himself it seemed like the abuse his lover had faced had been severe than Voldemort first had thought. But to him it did not matter how serious it had been. Anyone who touched what was his could expect to pay the price.

But finding the Dursleys proved to be a much harder task than he had thought it would be. It seemed like the three muggles had disappeared from the face of earth. Voldemort suspected that Evan somehow had a hand in this. His lover could have done something to the three muggles in the time where he had been on the run from him, even before he knew that the boy had been back in the time, after all, he was not sure when Evan exactly had come back to this time.

Voldemort doubted that Evan had actually killed the muggles. Despite all the things they had probably put Evan through; his lover was too soft hearted to do any real harm to a living person. But Voldemort had nothing which would stop him from taking the revenge he wanted to.

Those Dursleys would regret the day where they found his lover on their doorstep.

**)00(**

"**Slow down Evan, or I will wrap myself so tightly around you that you will not even be able to wiggle with your toes**." Harry winced and moved away so he was out of the snake's reach. "**Take it easy Nagini. It is so long time since I have seen him, so I would say I have every right to be happy**." He whispered back to Nagini while they moved down the corridor.

"**I have a question**." Harry looked back at the big snake that was following him closely, waiting for her to continue. Since the kitchen incident, Voldemort had been reluctant to let him out of the bedroom. Despite Snape and Narcissa had said he was fine the dark lord had insisted, much to Harry's dismay, that he spent the rest of the day in bed and had someone to watch over him to make sure that he stayed there.

Before facing Bellatrix Harry had managed to ignore the fact that he was actually defenceless and among potential enemies. If not Narcissa had arrived when she did he, and probably also Draco, would have been dead by now. Although it would have solved a lot of problems if he had just died then and there he would not have let Bellatrix having the honour of killing him. She had killed his godfather and Harry swore that she would die before he did.

It had taken another two day before he had managed to convince Voldemort to let him out of the bedroom again. He had shouted and threaded until Voldemort had finally given in. From then on he had been followed around by either the Malfoys or Snape. This time it was Nagini who got to play watchdog.

"**Why are we whispering? It is not like anyone else is here and Tom is the only other person who can understand us**." Harry grinned and slowed down so he was walking next to the snake. "**It is never to know who is listening, and I do not want to alert him of our arrival**."

They had abandoned Lucius in the library, together with Narcissa and Snape, with the permission of not leaving the manor. But first Snape had forced him to drink yet another one of his horrid potions. Harry looked forward to the day where he would no longer have to take more of the vile things. He felt like he had gotten enough potions for the rest of his life already.

"**You and Tom have mated**." Harry stumbled over his feet and stared down at Nagini who continued moving as if nothing had happened. "**How did you know that**?"

"**You both smelled strongly of sex when you were let out of the nest. Besides, I heard the man, Severus Snape, say that you would be let out once you became friends again**." Harry scowled, thinking back to the day where he and Voldemort had had sex together and blushed. He could still not believe that he had let Voldemort fuck him. Harry guessed it had been one of the moments where his Gryffindor side had been in control. Once again he had acted before he had thought it through.

Harry could not help but feel like he had cheated on Tom by letting Voldemort bed him. Harry knew that they were nothing alike but now where Voldemort had gotten his old look back Harry could not help but see more and more of his lover in the man. Luckily Voldemort had made no further attempts on bedding him. Harry was not sure what he felt about it. On one hand he was glad that he did not have to spend more time together with the dark lord than he already had been. But on the other had he had managed to forget who he had been together with through the act and until he awoke afterwards. Despite the roughness it had nearly been like being together with his Tom again.

He blinked his tears away before they had a chance to fall. He did not want anyone to know about the confusion he was dealing with. No doubt that they would try and tell him what was the best for him, which Harry hated. He had had control over his life for such a long time only to get it taken away once he returned to this time and he hated it. He wanted the times back where he could decide what he wanted to do and when he wanted to do it.

"Halt, who is there?" Harry jumped back to safety behind the corner and nearly stepped on Nagini, while staring at the spot where he had stood just a second before. The floor was singed and smelled burnt. Harry rolled his eyes. "Of course he would find some way to make sure he could use magic as a portrait. Why is it that I am not surprised?" He grumbled, ignoring Nagini's amused sniggers.

"Is that a way to greet an old friend, Mortimus?" Harry waited for an answer, knowing better than stepping out from his hiding place. Mortimus had used this kind of tactic on him before. If he stepped out where Mortimus could see him, he would get the life cursed out of him. Or at least end up in some nasty prank.

"Friends? The friends I had have already passed on. Step forth, intruder, or you are going to suffer the consequences."

"Do I not know that? I made those wards which are placed around this place. And I know for a fact, that you will not be able to do anything unless you have let something be done to the wards which I put so much hard work in."

As he spoke Harry stepped forth from his hiding place, ignoring Nagini's hisses as she followed him. He was not interested in hearing about how his parents must have lost him on the floor when he was a hatchling.

He scanned his surrounding, quickly spotting Mortimus' portrait which was the only one in the entrance hall. Harry was unable to hold back a smile when he met the gaze of his old friend. The portrait of Mortimus was not much different from the man he had known. His hair was more steel gray and there were a few more scars on his face than there had been the last time he had seen him. But even as a portrait Mortimus was an impressive person. Harry could easily imagine how the old man had scared Lucius and Draco when the blondes had been young boys.

"Well, you really look like a friend of mine, but he died a long time ago." Mortimus spoke, while Harry felt his eyes wandering up and down his body, taking in every detail he could of him. "Maybe because I really am Evan James." From the way Mortimus looked at him Harry knew that the man did not believe him. "It is not the first time I have seen an intruder who uses an polyjuice to look like someone who is dead, but usually they do not wait for so long."

Harry bit his lower lip, wondering about how he should prove it that it was actually him. "What if I told you something, something which only the two of us would know about?"

"Speak out."

"At the yearly Malfoy winter you invited me. We hexed Dumbledore's robes, so that every time someone said his name, people were able to see his undergarments."

Both of them laughed. "Yes, I remember that incident. Although many knows about it, there were only two people who knew who was behind the prank."

"Do you believe me now then?" Harry said, waiting for the curse he was sure would be sent after him. "It is good to see you again, Evan, or should I call you Harry now?"

Harry spluttered, staring wide eyed at the portrait. "Wait, how could you know? I mean, when, how and what?" Harry abruptly closed his mouth when he realised that he was babbling. "Honestly, anyone with eyes in their head would be able to see it." Harry sighed and sat down across the corridor so he had his back against the wall and was facing Mortimus. "It seems like a lot of people are blind then. Most of them see me as either Harry or Evan."

Mortimus snorted. "Nonsense. You are both. They are a part of who you are. One can also say that you are neither since you are in a new epoch of your life. It is just how you chose to look at it." Harry groaned and let the back of his head hit the wall behind him. "For how long have you known the truth then?"

"Since the day where you supposedly defeated Tom. The similarity was too great for it to be a coincidence. How many wizards have black hair and green eyes and walk around with a scar on their forehead? And I understand the reasons to why you chose the names you did, it was a good way to honour both of your parents while hiding your real identity."

Harry hung his head and closed his eyes. "I wish I had stayed in the past. Back then things seemed less complicated and I would perhaps have gotten a chance to know my parents before they died."

"That may be, but I am sure everyone has told you that they supported Dumbledore's side and so it was very unlikely." Harry nodded, hearing the truth in his friend's words. "You are right, but I am still allowed to wish."

He used the silence to take in his surroundings. Last time Harry had been in Malfoy manor he had only gotten to see the inside of one of the cells in the dungeon. From what he had seen, not much had changed through time. A few things had been added but else it looked much the same. It could easily have been yesterday he had walked around in these corridors to join Mortimus for tea and cookies.

Harry grinned at the thought of the cookies he had baked. They had been gone not even an hour after they had been taken out of the oven. Perhaps it was a good way to defeat the enemy. Feed them with so many pastries, that they would be too fat to defend themselves. He would have to take up the idea with Mortimus on a later time.

A tail poking his side brought him back to the real world. Harry blinked and tilted his head to the side. "**What**?" He hissed at Nagini, who just shook her head and looked pointy at Mortimus, who was watching him with a strange glint in his eyes. "From the way Nagini reacted I guess I should not curse you, mind telling me why that is the case." Despite the way he spoke Harry knew that it was no request.

"Apparently, time travelling is not good for your health." At the Malfoy lord's glare he knew he had to continue.

"From what I have understood, the time travel made me sick. At first it was only coughing fits, but they evolved. From what Snape explained to me the cells in my body were destroying themselves and each other, much like cancer." Harry was just about to explain the concept of the muggle sickness, but decided against it since it was not important right now. Besides, he did not know enough about the subject to answer the questions which would come afterwards.

"And what about now? Are you still sick?" Mortimus' voice spoke dark troubles if that was the case. "No, Snape is giving me potions which are supposed to help me. And up to now I have had no more fits." Mortimus was seemingly satisfied with his answer. "I see, and may I ask why you are wearing magical restriction cuffs?" Harry looked down at his wrists and grimaced. The robes' sleeves had slid up while he was talking and now the cuffs were free to be seen.

"I attempted to kill Dumbledore. Unfortunately, I got caught and to make sure I could not get away those two were place on me. Luckily Draco and Crabbe and Goyle Jr. rescued me before any real damage could be done. And no one thought that anyone would dare to attack me when I am Voldemort's guest."

"From the way you say it I dare to guess that it was not the case."

Harry nodded and opened his eyes to look Mortimus directly in his eyes. "Bellatrix Lestrange tried to kill me and she put Draco under the Cruciatus in the dark lord's kitchen, three days ago." Mortimus bristled. "I knew her. The girls' father was Walburga's brother, if I remember right then their mother was Druella Rosier. Who would have thought that there would come three so different girls out of the marriage? One turned crazy, another was disowned after marrying a muggle and the last one married my grandson." Harry smiled. He remembered Orion and Walburga Black. They knew they would have to marry once they both graduated from school but had decided to get the best out of the situation.

"So you and little Tom are back together." Harry spluttered. "Does he let you get away with calling him that?" Shivers ran down his spine when Mortimus grinned. "It is one of the good things about being only a portrait. Besides, after you were believed dead, Tom, Abraxas and the others from their little group used to spend a lot of time in this manor. It was one of the few places, where they were sure that words about their plans would not reach Dumbledore's ears. Besides, the little snake at your side lived here until Tom graduated from school."

"**Tell him, that if he calls me that again, we will find out if portraits are immune to my poison**."

Harry delivered the message to Mortimus who laughed. "Why is it, that I am not surprised? Between you and Tom it is no wonder that she developed that personality of hers." Harry snorted and shook his head. "Only you would not be scared by being treated by Nagini like this."

"Enough joking around, how is the relationship between you and little Tom? I can imagine that it is not easy for you."

The dark haired wizard sighed and nodded. "You are right. I, you know, do not really know how to say it? I let Voldemort, no, I think it is more right to say that I did not actually protest when Voldemort took me to bed some time ago. But now it just-"

"Feels wrong?" At Harry's look Mortimus continued. "I knew you. You are that type of person who worries too much about other people and who takes the world's problems on his shoulders. Allow me to spell it out for you, you and Tom belong together, there is no discussion about that."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, Tom and I belong together, but I cannot see myself growing old with Voldemort."

"You know Evan, right now I am really tempted to curse you." Mortimus' growling voice made Harry flinch. "What? I have not done anything."

"Sometimes you are too thick headed for your own good."

The boy tilted his head to the side and frowned while he tried to figure out what the portrait was talking about. Mortimus sighed and started explaining.

"I am lord Voldemort is an anagram of Tom Marvolo Riddle, which, if I understood the boy right, he chose to use to honour you since it was you who came up with the name in the first case. That man which you see as Voldemort was born as Tom Riddle, an orphan whom you adopted and fell in love with. He has changed, yes, but so does anyone who grows up. Please remember that fifty years have passed for other people. And he spent some of those years crazy because of the horcruxes he made."

Harry shifted but listened to the man with apt attention. "I am not saying that you should forgive him for what he has done to you and other people, after all, I am not stupid. But perhaps you should try and understand him. Figure out what made him into the person he is today, what does he wants to do with the Wizarding world should he win this war, what is his impetus? And if you were listening to what I said before you would have learned, that since you are both Evan James and Harry Potter it could perhaps also apply to little Tom too."

Humming lowly Harry nodded. "I will speak with him about it next time I am alone with him." Mortimus grinned, seemingly satisfied with the answer. "Good, now let us get those cuffs off of you. It would not do for you to be defenceless if something should happen again." Harry, catching the man's glance at Nagini understood what he meant. "Of course, it could have ended much worse than it did if Narcissa had not arrived when she did. I could very well have died."

Nagini hissed. "I will not let Tom and I lose you again, Evan, not so soon after we have gotten you back. Remove those cuffs, I will deal with whatever troubles which come afterwards." Harry grinned to his friend, at least they now knew that the snake would do nothing to stop them.

"Alright, let us get started, this is probably going to hurt a little."

**)00(**

Albus held back a tired sigh as he sat in the new headquarter of the Order of the Phoenix, also known as the kitchen of the Burrow.

This was how he had imagined it would end when he first had formed the order. Sure, he had known that they would not be able to have meetings and eat caviar unless some rich pureblood supported their cause. Unfortunately, most purebloods supported Voldemort's cause, although he could not understand why. To him it did not matter. Once Voldemort was killed, they would all go down.

Right now they had just finished yet another meeting, where not much new had been told. Since Snape had disappeared from the face of earth they had lost their spy in the dark lord's circle. Now they were fumbling around in the dark without a single clue about what Voldemort's next move would be.

Not only that, but more and more people was having doubts about Longbottom being the boy of the prophecy. Unlike Potter he had not done heroic things through his school time, he did not play Quidditch and he did not have anything which could make people look up to him. The only thing which seemed to interest the boy was plants.

He would have to arrange something which would make Longbottom look like the hero he needed. Although Potter was the one who was supposed to kill the dark lord he could hardly use the boy. There was no doubt that the boy would never listen to him. It was a shame that he had tried to kill him but there was nothing he could do about it now. But everything would have been easier if he had waited with killing Potter until the boy had ended Voldemort's life. Afterwards it would have been easy to claim that the boy had gone dark and ship him off to Azkaban or kill him and still get the glory.

With Potter it had been easy to make the boy look like some kind of a hero in the Wizarding world's eyes. All he had to do was to lean back and let things happen. Once in a while he had had to step in and play the role of the caring grandfatherly headmaster who cared greatly about his student.

If not for the events in the end of Potter's fourth year and through the fifth, he would probably have let his plans continue with what would have ended with Voldemort and Potter's death. But Potter had several times proved that there was darkness inside him and after his godfather's death he had withdrawn from his friends. Besides he had looked so much like Evan James when Albus first had met the wizard after going to the man's home to convince him to let Riddle return to the orphanage where it would be easier to keep an eye on the Slytherin boy.

Potter had encouraged Riddle to continue his dark ways.

"Is it true? That Hogwarts' student body is reduced to nearly the half because the purebloods are taking their children out of school." It sounded like Molly Weasley had decided that the peace had gone on for long enough. Albus blinked, realising that most had already left. The only ones left in the kitchen were Mrs. Weasley and him. He silently sighed, knowing that he should have left while he still had a choice but the thought of returning to his office was not tempting. Many of James' pranks were still in there and because of them he was the laughing stone among the students and many of the professors.

"Yes, my guess is that many of them support Voldemort, some of them we know about but others are still hiding in the shadows." The Weasley matriarch blew her nose in a handkerchief. "This is an awful war. I hope it will soon end, it has already cost so many lives. My dear Fred and George, they were meant to be great if they had survived. Though they had been distant lately, they did not deserve such a fate. After all they had a shop to concentrate on although I would have wished that they had used their brains on something else. At least they earned good money to the family."

Although he was not in the mood for it, Albus knew that he would have to put on his grandfatherly act. He could not risk losing anymore supporters than he already had.

"Fred and George Weasley fought for what they believed in. They fought for a future where we all would have been able to live without having to fear for dark lords and the likes."

Albus hid a grimace when Mrs. Weasley's eyes filled with tears. Voldemort had broken the peace by going after a light family. Without Snape they had been unable to save the family in time. The only survivors from the family had been two small girls who were currently staying at St. Mungos', where they were being threaded by the healers although they had not really been hurt, which was a surprise considering who had been behind the attack.

The two girls had not spoken a word about what had happened that night and it annoyed Albus that they were too young to use Legilimens on. He could not even sneak in and take a look in their minds since the ministry had placed aurors outside their room to make sure that nothing happened to them. He was unpopular enough inside the ministry as it was already because of the loss of students from purebloods families.

To put it short the twins had been the first ones to arrive, though how they had managed to do so he had yet to figure out. Albus had learned a long time ago not to think too much about what the twins had done, it usually only resulted in a headache for him. It seemed like Voldemort and his dead eaters had decided to make it short with the twins. The boys had not been tortured for a long time before they had been killed with the Avada Kedrava.

It was a merciful dead and though Albus could not say that he had known the twins well, after all he had only been their headmaster, he knew that they would be missed greatly. A bright thing, though he did not dare to voice that thought out, was that the twins had managed to earn quite a bit of money. Although it was not much it was good enough for him, and unless they had made a will it should not be hard for him to claim the money without anyone knowing about it. Or else he should be able to convince Molly and Arthur to give the money to him.

After all, it would be for the greater good.

**)00(**

Hermione was the brightest witch in her year, no one dared to argue that fact. And there was a reason to why she had that title. She was book smart, sure, but that was not all though people seemed to believe so.

One of the good things about spending time with books was that it gave her a chance to avoid people. Hermione had never been much of a people's person. She loved her books and was content as long as she had something which could expand her knowledge.

Harry had been her first real friend. Even before Hogwarts she had had no one she could call a friend. There had been name calling and the teachers had done nothing about the pranks the other students pulled on her. But as soon as assignments had to be done they had been more than willing to spend their time with her. But as soon as the work was done, she had been alone once again.

She had entered Hogwarts, prepared to spend seven lonesome years all by herself. But Harry had changed that. He had not had to save her life. No one would have blamed him if he had run the other way without looking back. After all they had only been eleven years at that time and no one had expected them to be able to take out a troll.

But Harry had been prepared to die to save her life. And afterwards they had formed a friendship. Sure she had had to help him with the homework, and he had not been the best to study. But he had included her in his daily life, at least he had tried to. When it came to Quidditch she failed to see what was so good about the sport. And with all the damage Harry had suffered from it she had not been able to understand how he had been able to not hate it, or at least have avoided it like death.

He had showed her a world outside the books and Hermione had found that she had liked it, at least when she was together with the right people.

Glancing up the table Hermione frowned behind her book. Ron had seated himself next to Neville, who had been proclaimed the new Boy Who Lived. He was throwing food into his mouth while talking. It did not look like he was moaning much over the twins' death.

Ron gestured over to the Slytherin table where only a quarter of the students were left. Looking around she could ascertain that Gryffindor was the table with most students left, but even here there were a few empty spots.

When headmaster Dumbledore first had told about Harry's betrayal and death, without going in the depth of any of them, Hermione had been split. She had been raised by her parents to follow the authority but she had also known Harry. Many of the things which had been said about him there had been a reason behind why he had done them. Harry had witnessed Voldemort's return, had gone through a year where he had been called a liar and had lost his godfather. If anyone had a reason to act strange she believed it would be him.

But she had not protested or done anything to prove Harry's innocence, quite the opposite thing actually. It had been her chance to show herself to the world, to let people know about the brilliant witch who attended Hogwarts and who had known one of the most famous wizards in history although he had turned out evil. People had paid well to hear her story and Hermione knew that several jobs waited for her once she finished school. Everything had seemed so easy and perfect.

But then it had all been turned up and down. Harry turned up after headmaster Dumbledore had told everyone that he himself had killed Harry Potter. The only way to raise someone from the death was by using necromancy and Hermione had read enough books about the subject to know that it was not the case.

She shuddered when she thought back at the last time she had seen Harry. Ron had taken her down to the dungeon, claiming that there was someone who headmaster Dumbledore wanted them to meet. Whatever Hermione had expected, it certainly not had been the sight which had greeted her.

Harry had changed so much in the months which had passed since the last time she had seen her friend but there had been no doubt in her mind that it really had been Harry. That left Hermione with one problem. How to explain Harry's appearance when he was supposed to be dead?

Either he had managed to somehow make headmaster Dumbledore believe that he was dead, only to hide. But that did not explain how he had ended back up at Hogwarts or why Dumbledore had told the order nothing about it.

Or headmaster Dumbledore had been lying for them all and had not really killed Harry. But if headmaster Dumbledore spoke the truth about the danger Harry was why would he hide the boy's existence from the rest of the Wizarding world.

Hermione did not like either of the possibilities. Though she liked riddles in this case she just wanted to bury her nose in her books and forget everything about what was going on around her.

She had not gone down to Harry's cell since that one time. She tried to avoid thinking about how he had looked at her. First accusing and his facial expression had changed, as if he did not know her at all. It had followed her into her nightmares. For the first time Hermione had found herself truly doubting what she had been taught.

Ever since she had been a little girl she had been taught to listen to those knowing better than her. It included her parents, teachers, and the police. To put it short, the grownups. But Harry had proved that the grownups were not always right. Together they had gone against direct orders but had been rewarded where she normally would have been scolded.

Now it was time for her to face an important choice. Did she believe the headmaster, who only spoke half truths, or her best friend who had never really abandoned her?

Hermione looked up when the whole Great hall suddenly went silent. Turning around in her seat Hermione quickly hid a smile behind her book. Ever since Harry had been captured someone had been pranking the headmaster. But although it did not take a genius to figure out who was behind it, it seemed like she was the only one who had found out who was behind the pranks.

The silence continued as the headmaster slowly walked up to the staff table. A donkey head was where the headmaster's head was supposed to be. But instead of the usually brown, grey or black colour, the donkey's fur was a mix between gold and red.

She shipped out as soon as the students returned their attention to the food in front of them. She had things which needed to be done and it would be easier if no one knew about them.

Hermione was too deep in thought to notice the pair of blue eyes which followed her as she left the Great hall without any of the students or professor paying attention to her.

**)00(**

Harry rubbed his wrist, avoiding the marks which had come when Mortimus had removed the cuffs. For the first time in what felt like forever he could feel the magic run with the blood through his veins. It was a feeling so unlike everything he had felt before. Harry hugged himself, not caring about the tears running down his cheeks.

"**Evan, are you okay**?" Nagini wrapped herself around his body until she could take a look at his wrists. "**I understand why you screamed. It looks like it hurt**."

The skin around his wrist was now raw and red. He already knew that they were sore and without potions they would be like that for a long time. Perhaps he could talk Snape into making more of the cream which had been used to heal his old wounds. "I am fine." At the two doubtful looks he received, Harry changed his statement. "I will be fine. Honestly, it is not like I have not been through worse and besides, having my magic back is worth all the pain in the world."

"Are you going to run away again?"

Harry froze at the question and started worrying his lower lip between his teeth. Nagini's grip around his body tightened until it nearly hurt to breathe. Despite the restriction Harry forced himself to breathe deeply before he looked into Mortimus' eyes. "Dumbledore has to die."

"But does it have to be you who does it?"

Harry shrugged the best he could in his current position. "I guess not, but I think I will be the best for the job. Dumbledore now knows that I am back, but he knows nothing about how or where I am. For all he knows I could be lying dead somewhere, utterly alone. I am probably the one with the best chance to kill him. I have some tricks up in my sleeve which he will not expect. Considering that I have faced him a few times before, I think my chances are rather good."

He left out the fact that one of the times had ended with him being killed. Actually he had been sent back to his own time, but the thing was that he had been hit with the killing curse and had expected to die. "And how do you think you will get away?"

"I made the wards surrounding this place. What kind of wardmaker would I be if I had not made sure that I would be able to get away should something happen?" Mortimus scowled. "But even if that happened, you would take Nagini with you because she is wrapped around you. And while she stops you from leaving further I will be able to alert my grandson, who will arrive in time to stop the little snake's poison from killing you."

Harry pouted. "Fine, you win. I will stay and play nicely with the other kids."

"That is all which I ask for, at least until you are healed. Afterwards you are welcome to kick as much arses as you want to, if that is what you want. But for now, how about we work together and plot revenge against my grandson and his lovers? After all, they did lock you in a bedroom with Tom." Harry nodded slowly with a grin which matched Mortimus'. "I have just the thing planned for them."

**So the light side lost Fred and George, are they also about to lose Hermione? And what kind of revenge will Harry and Mortimus be able to come up with? Keep reading and you will find out...perhaps...maybe? Just read and we will see what happens. **


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I am in the middle of the negotiations to the rights of Harry Potter. Right now it does not look like I am winning but do not lose your hope. **

**Warning: Spanking. **

**Beta: ****angelhitomie **

"Care to explain this to me?" Harry managed to grunt out as he threw the news paper at the table. "What is it?" Voldemort asked without even looking up from the papers he was working on. "How about you take a look and tell me?" Finally Voldemort put the work aside at took the paper in his hand.

Harry watched as Voldemort's face set in a grim expression as he read the article's headline in the week old Daily Prophet. Slowly the dark lord laid down the news paper and looked up at him. For once Harry was the taller of the two of them and he would have enjoyed the fact if not because he had other and more important things to focus on right now.

"Let me explain."

"Please do, because as I see it, you are behind the murder of two people who I actually saw as my friends."

"Saw?" Harry shrugged. "I did not have the chance to talk with Fred and George after I returned to this time. I have no idea of what they thought of me and it seems like I am not going to get the chance because you decided to kill them!"

The things in the office started to rattle as Harry's anger rose. Harry bit his lip until he tasted blood to stop himself from yelling more at the dark lord. If there had been anyone who would have been able to see through Dumbledore's lies it would have been the twins. They had supported him and made him smile whenever he had needed them. Out of the whole family they had seemed to be the most open minded.

It hurt to know that he had also lost them now. There would never be games where people had to guess which twin was which and no new pranks from their side would be made. As Harry had told them on the train on the end of his fourth year, in the upcoming war people would need smiles and they would probably be the best ones for that job.

A finger freed his abused lip and a mouth started sucking the blood off. Harry moaned and let his arms fell around the man's neck. At the same time he felt arms lock around his waist and hold him in place.

Harry's eyes flew open, suddenly remembering where he was and his situation, and he found himself staring into blood red orbs. Harry tried to step away but Voldemort's arms around his person kept him in place. "Let go of me."

"Not before you let me explain this to you, Evan."

Harry fumed, and tried to struggle free but it seemed that Voldemort was just as determined on not letting him go. "Do not touch and stop calling me Evan. That is not my name. I am Harry Potter, which is what my parents named me!"

"You are not Potter, your name is Evan!"

Harry stomped on the floor and growled lowly. "My name is Harry, just like you are Voldemort and not Tom. We are meant to be enemies. There is a prophecy about us killing each other and no matter how you look at it, it is what it means. There is no way around it, so you might as well get over with it."

Voldemort paled and hugged him tightly. "If you were anyone else I would punish you for speaking like that around me. But I know that you are upset and are not thinking clearly. But if you do not stop I will probably do something both of us are going to regret." Voldemort's voice was nothing more than a low growl and Harry hissed. He wanted nothing to do with this man. It was idiotic to think that he had hoped that they ever would be able to work out their problems.

Harry froze when he felt one of Voldemort's hands travel under his clothes and reach for one of his nipples. The thought of the man touching him this way was nearly enough to make him sick.

Before he could think Harry had raised one hand and slapped the dark lord with a flat hand. Although Harry did not have any big muscles, Voldemort's head still flew to the side and a red handprint was already forming on the man's cheek.

"Do not dare to touch me, you disgust me!" Harry yelled and kicked Voldemort's over the tibia so the man let go of him in favour of his shin. Since Voldemort was too occupied to stop him, Harry left the office and slammed the door shut behind him.

Seeing that no one was in the corridor Harry started running. He did not care about where he ended as long as he got as far as possible away from Voldemort.

His feet carried him outside for the first time since he had arrived to Voldemort's manor. Feeling the wards around the place Harry knew how far he would be able to go before Voldemort would be alerted about where he was.

When his legs gave out under him Harry did nothing to brace his fall. He landed face first on the ground and felt his nose get crunched. Even when he felt blood running down his face Harry did not get up. He breathed deeply through his mouth, only to get snow in and cough and lifted his head a little to look around and be able to breathe better.

He was outside in the big garden which he had looked at from his seat at the window in Voldemort's bedroom several times before. A thin layer of snow covered the ground. It had already soaked through the front of his indoor robes and his feet were numb from the cold. The only day where he had been allowed any kind of footwear was when he had been visiting Mortimus' portrait at Malfoy manor. Since that day shoes had simply not appeared with his clothes.

Harry supposed he should be able to transfigure something into shoes now that the cuffs were off. But until Snape gave him the last of his potions Harry had promised Mortimus not to use his magic unless it could not be avoided as in a life or death situation.

He knew that he should head inside. Being outside and dressed like this was probably not his greatest idea. But he could not bear the thought of going inside again. Not when he knew what Voldemort had done. It was something he could not forgive the man for even if he was not sure if the Weasley twins had been his friends or not.

The sound of moving feet moved towards him and Harry felt himself go tense. He did not want to be found but with the green robes he was wearing it was unlikely that they would just overlook him. Harry let his head fell back to the ground. If he could not avoid being found he could at least choose whether or not he wanted to talk to them. Perhaps he would be lucky and they would just leave him alone.

The feet stopped not far from him but Harry continued to ignore the persons. Despite the episode with Bellatrix he did not feel nervous. Whatever Voldemort had done to the witch it seemed to have scared the rest of his followers. They did not dare to meet his gaze and bowed deeply the few times Harry had actually run into any of them. It made Harry wonder what the dark lord had done to his crazy follower, especially since Harry had seen nothing of her since the incident in the kitchen.

The sound of girlish giggle made Harry's head snap up. He was pretty sure that none of the dark lord's followers had small girls. At least he had not seen them before. But on the other hand, what did two small girls do in the dark lord's garden?

Harry looked from one girl to another. They were closely related, probably sisters or something like that. Both had light brown hair, one in pig tails while the other girl's, the oldest one, had her hair short. They were dressed in soft pink robes and were holding hands.

Normally Harry had nothing against children, but he was wary of them. It was his belief that children one day would take over the world. And when they did so he would sit back and laugh because no one would have expected it. But right now he was in no mood to deal with kids of any kind, be it magical or muggle.

"What is big brother doing out in the snow all alone?"

"Our mother always told us that if we would go outside then we would have to dress warmly."

"Or she would warm our behinds for us."

Harry blinked. The two girls sounded a lot like the twins had done and they even grinned the same way, which usually did not bore well for anyone. Harry groaned and looked away from the two girls. "Great, now I am hallucinating. Go away and leave me alone."

Again the two girls giggled. "Perhaps we should show brother who we really are, Gred."

"Feorge."

He looked back at the two girls but instead of seeing them he was looking up at the faces of Fred and George Weasley, whom he had thought were dead, both boys dressed in too tight pink robes. "My dear Gred, it seems like we have managed to make him speechless."

"It sure does, my dear Feorge."

Two pair of hands grabbed his arms and lifted him up from the cold ground. "How come you are out all alone?"

"And why are people running around inside like headless chickens?"

"I... How... You are supposed to be dead!" Harry threw himself free, only to fall and be grabbed by the twins before he hit the ground.

"Easy, I doubt the dark lord will be happy if you get more hurt."

"From what we have heard he is pretty happy for you."

"How do you know and how come you are alive?" Harry finally opened his mouth to ask them the question.

The twins shared a look over his head. "Well, if you want to know, we kind of joined the dark lord."

"After Dumbledore had killed you, and I have to say that he did a bad job."

"It seem like you are right, Feorge, he does not look dead to me."

"Anyway, we joined the dark lord and then suddenly we are told that you are alive and staying with good, old Voldie."

"You would be surprised to find out how easy it is to get in contact with Voldie, we just showed up at Malfoy's home one day and told him we had an offer he should not say no to if he knew what was good for him."

"And it was his wife, our new favourite person, next to you of course, who told us that you were still alive."

"So we faked our own dead, used a new prank to make ourselves look like the two small girls, just so you know it, it has yet to hit the marked."

"But do not worry about the girls, they are alive and do not remember a single thing of what happened to their parents."

"But here we are."

Harry could not help it. He threw his head back and started laughing until his lungs hurt." Now dear little brother."

"Are you going to tell us what you are doing out here?"

"Barely dressed and with a bloody nose?"

A blush covered his face and Harry looked down at himself. The robes were ruined with dirt and blood. He knew that there were spells which could take care of the problem, but it was no reason for him to tread clothes like that. "I found out about your deaths today, and perhaps I got a little angry about it."

Suddenly he went pale and he would have fallen if not for the hands holding him up. "Merlin, I slapped him."

"Who? The dark lord?" The twins asked at the same time. Harry ducked his head, he could not believe that he had actually dared to do something so childish. He wished that the ground would open up and swallow him whole.

"Are you aware of the fact Potter, that you have managed to put the whole place on the other end? And what have you done to yourself? Perhaps we should lock you up again, that way it will be easier to do damage control." Snape's voice reached them before the red and yellow clad man did so as the trio stepped inside the manor. It had been Mortimus' idea for a punishment for the three Slytherins for when they had locked he and Voldemort into the bedroom. Harry's body tensed while he kept his eyes to the ground. He already knew that he would see disappointment if he looked into the black orbs.

"Lift your head, Mr. Potter, so I can see what damage you have done to yourself." Cool, and surprisingly gentle fingers closed around his chin and kept him in place while the other hand was touching his nose. "Not even ten minutes without supervision and you manages to get yourself into troubles. Luckily nothing seems to be broken, but you will be sore for a few days. I will do nothing about it, hopefully it will be enough to teach you to be more careful."

An explosion shook the room and Harry grimaced. He already had a good idea about who was behind it. "How bad is it?" Snape was about to answer when another explosion shook the room and made them all stumble while things fell down around them. "It does not matter. I will go up and check it out myself. If we are lucky I will be able to calm him down before the whole place starts falling down around us."

Harry freed himself from the twins' hold. "The two of you will stay here until I am back. Do not do anything while I am gone." Then he turned to face the potion master and grinned. "I have to say that I like the changes with your hair, sir. Bright blue is just your colour, although I have to say that the robes do not quite match."

With that Harry started making his way upstairs. His body was cold and shaking but he forced it to move as fast as possible, while he ignored its protests. He had made this mess and he would be the one to clean it up.

**)00(**

Voldemort scowled while blowing up another shelf with a blasting curse. He put his anger into the curse and felt the whole manor shake but was too angry to care about the damage he was doing to his home.

Evan had not been supposed to find out what had happened, not this way at least. Whoever had left the news paper where his lover could find it would pay dearly for that mistake. He would make the person suffer for this. The pain he felt right now they would suffer tenfold.

Voldemort breathed deeply, trying to regain control over his feelings before he destroyed the whole place. Although he had other places he could use as headquarter he rather liked this one.

The look of betrayal and anger in Evan's eyes was burned into his mind. He had never thought that his lover would look at him like that. Harry Potter would but not his Evan, never his Evan. Although Evan was not psychically strong it still hurt where the boy had kicked and slapped him. Normally Voldemort would have cursed anyone for doing such a thing to him before he killed them. But he neither could nor would do such a thing to his lover.

There would be other and much more pleasurable ways for him to punish his lover.

Before he had been able to explain anything to Evan his lover had run of. Voldemort supposed he should have followed him to make sure his lover did not get himself into troubles but decided against it. In his current state it would do them more harm than good.

So now he was reduced to this, blowing up things in his office because his lover believed that he had killed the two red haired twins.

"Voldemort?" He turned around, his hand raised to cast a curse at the intruder. His arm fell when he took in the figure in the doorway. "What happened to you?" The lower half of Evan's face was covered in blood. The robes were rumbled and had spots of dirt and blood on them.

The green eyed wizard lowered his gaze to the ground, but not before Voldemort had seen the tears in his eyes. "I am sorry. I should have let you explain before I started yelling, or slapping or kicking you. But I thought that they really were dead and I just acted before I thought. I am sorry, I was childish."

Voldemort felt how the anger slowly lessened as Evan fumbled through his apology. His eyes travelled over Evan's body, taking in every single hair out of place. A new anger flared up in him, this time it was towards the person who had dared to do this. He had thought that after the example he had made of Bellatrix people would know better than to touch what was his.

"Who did this to you?" He growled out and Evan frowned. "What do you-" Understanding filled Evan's face as he lifted a hand and softly touched his blood covered face. "No one did this to me." Evan did still not look up but flinched when he stepped closer. "Do not try to fool me, Evan, who did this to you?"

Voldemort was standing in front of the boy, gripping his chin and lifting his head so he could look him into the eyes. Up close the green eyes were stunning and the tears seemed to make them shine.

Slowly he let a finger run over Evan's nose and watched the boy wince. "It does not seem to be broken."

"Snape already took a look at it, he said it would be alright to leave it on its own." Voldemort scowled. He did not know enough about the subject to form his own opinion. But he did not like the thought of his lover feeling pain, at least no unnecessary pain.

"Sit." He was slightly surprised when Evan followed the order without protests and sat down in one of the chairs in front of his worktable. Knowing that Evan would not move for some time, Voldemort left through the door to the bathroom which was connected to his office.

**)00(**

Harry watched nervously as Voldemort left the office through and an until now unnoticed door. The man acted different than he had thought he would. He had walked in, prepared to be cursed as if there was no tomorrow. Instead of doing as he had expected Voldemort seemed more focussed on the thought of someone having harmed him. If not because he knew better Harry would say that Voldemort actually cared about him.

Shaking his head Harry pushed the thought aside. Despite the talk with Mortimus Harry still doubted that he would ever see Tom and Voldemort as the same person. They were simply too different.

And yet they were so dammed alike.

Harry became still when Voldemort entered the office. His eyes went to the man's hands but instead of some instrument for torture Voldemort held a bowl and a towel. When the dark lord came close enough Harry could see hot water in the bowl.

"Severus might think that you do not need medical attention but you do still need to be cleaned."

"But I can do that myself."

A single glare from Voldemort was enough to make Harry shut his mouth. A little voice in the back of his head told him that it would be best for him to be quiet and let Voldemort do as he wanted, at least for the time being.

As if he was a child Voldemort removed the outer robes, so Harry now sat in his trousers and a light green shirt. He shivered and wrapped his arms around his torso despite it not being cold in the room. Without the robes on he felt more valuable than he normally would have done when Voldemort kneeled down in front of him with a wet cloth in his hand.

Voldemort was surprisingly gentle as he cleaned Harry's face. Harry closed his eyes as Voldemort washed his face with the warm and wet cloth. Harry leaned into the touch, enjoying the closeness but not quite relaxing. He could not believe that Voldemort would just let go of the subject like that and waited for something to happen, even though he was not sure what it was supposed to be.

The silence continued as Voldemort worked and Harry watched the man though half closed eyes. It was not often he was this close to the dark lord and being calm at the same time. Things always seemed to happen and he wanted to use the time well before hell broke loose.

Mortimus had said that Harry and Evan were the same person, but they were also forming the person he was today. Harry wondered if that also was the case with Voldemort. He had known the dark lord and he had known Tom. But was Voldemort a combination of these two and which of them were most domestic?

The Voldemort he had known before he had been sent back in time would never have looked at him twice before having either killed him or started the torture. Also, although Voldemort did not act overly friendly with many, there were a few people which he allowed to see a more soft side of him.

Harry silently wondered how many had gotten to see that side of Voldemort.

Voldemort put the cleaning articles aside and Harry automatic tensed. His eyes travelled towards the door and the windows. Despite them being on the second floor he would be ready to take the chance with the windows if he had to.

As if reading his thoughts Voldemort placed a hand on his thigh. Either to hold him in place or to calm him, Harry was not sure but he stayed where he was, not wanting to anger the man more than he already had. He could see the anger in Voldemort's red eyes and licked his lips nervously. Just why was it that he had gotten the idea of going into Voldemort's office while the man was clearly angry? It had to be his Gryffindor side which once again had taken control over his body before he had had a chance to think things through.

"I will ask you one last time, Evan, did anyone hurt you?" Harry felt himself blush but forced himself to continue meeting the dark lord's gaze. "I fell when I ran outside and gave myself a bloody nose." He mumbled, but still knew that Voldemort had heard what he had said. Perhaps because he saw the bastard's smirk before it disappeared again.

Thanks to the room's temperature Harry had finally stopped shivering. The front of his shirt was only slightly wet, but he did not see any reason to worry about it. It seemed unlikely that he would get sick by something so small with all what he had been though.

Voldemort was still grave when he let go of off him and got up. Without a word Voldemort walked away and sat down on an armchair across from the one where Harry was seated. "Come here." Harry frowned, trying to figure out what Voldemort was on about. "If we are just going to talk, why can I not just be sitting here? What are you doing?"

Voldemort grabbed his arm and pulled him over the man's lap before the dark lord pulled his trousers and undergarment down to his knees, exposing his bottom to the room. Harry was quickly silenced with a twat on his butt. "You said it yourself. Your reaction was childish and therefore your punishment will be as if it was assigned to a child. And since I cannot use magic on you I will have to do it myself."

One of Voldemort's hands pressed against the small of his back, he struggled against it but quickly discovered that it did him no good. The trousers around his knees restrained his movement, Harry tried to reach for them but found them out of his reach. Harry found himself tilted forwards so he was looking down at the floor.

Harry did not have any time to do anything when Voldemort's free hand came down across his sit spot. Harry let out a yelp, and again Voldemort's hand fell, this time it landed on his right thigh.

"Voldemort!" Harry yelled, trying to get the man to stop, but the man ignored him and instead slapped his other thigh. Harry quickly understood that struggling was useless and the look in Voldemort's eyes he had seen before he had been yanked down over the man's lap told him that the dark lord would not change his mind about this.

Harry clenched his teeth and turned his face to the side and away from Voldemort. He tried to stay silent through Voldemort's treatment, but when the next blow fell on his sit spot, Harry buried his face in the armrest. The two next blows landed fast and hard on his sit spot and Harry jumped before he made himself go rigid.

"I am punishing you, Evan, because you will have to learn to think before you act. It has gotten you in troubles before and one day your luck will not be enough to get you out of this alive. Hopefully this will be able to remind you of not making that kind of mistake again."

Tears started to form anew in his eyes, but Harry clenched them close and refused to let out a sound. He silently hoped that no one would walk in on them like this. While it would probably put an end on the punishment he could not bear anyone seeing him like this. The saviour of the Wizarding world lying across the dark lord's lap and getting spanked like a naughty child.

Suddenly the dam broke and tears started running down his face. Harry sniffed and tried to bury his face in the armrest. "I am sorry" He mumbled quietly, silently begging that Voldemort did not hear it. He did not need Voldemort to know that he was crying like some little child.

Harry felt his undergarment and trousers be pulled back up. Confused he waited to see what would happen now. Did Voldemort plan on continue spanking him, but this time with something between the hand and his sore behind?

Harry tried to shift away when the hand moved under his shirt and started rubbing his back gently, but the other hand still stopped him from getting away.

Harry was confused. He had never been punished this way, not even when he was a child. His aunt had refused to touch him. Vernon had been the one to deal with his punishment. Either the man would slap him around a little, but no matter what he would have ended in his cupboard under the stairs.

The hand gently rubbed his upper back and sometimes ran the nails over his skin, making Harry shiver. Not sure if he deserved this comfort Harry pushed up so his shoulders were up in the air, but Voldemort's hand stopped him from getting any further and pressed his body down again.

Voldemort continued rubbing his back and massaged his muscles until they relaxed. Harry had to admit that it felt good. Right now it did not matter to him that it was Voldemort who was comforting him.

"From now on you will listen to what I say, and let me explain things to you instead of drawing conclusions without having heard my side of the story?" Voldemort said, still rubbing his back. Harry found himself nodding, not wanting to miss the comforting hand.

"You are forgiven." Those three words made Harry sob freely, no longer caring about who was watching him. It felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he was finally able to relax, if only a little.

**)00(**

Harry emerged from the office an hour after he had entered it, convinced that his face would forever be stuck in a blush. Not only had he misjudged Voldemort, the man had decided to punish him as a child by spanking him. To make it even worse Harry had managed to fall asleep while still lying across the man's lap.

At least he was somewhat sure that Voldemort did not hate him for what he had said when he had thought that Fred and George were dead.

Voldemort had awakened him with a soft kiss on his forehead. None of them had spoken while Harry had washed away the tear tracks until there was no way to see that he had cried. He had watched his face with a critical eye. His bottom lip was red and swollen from when he had bitten it. A bruise covered his nose and made it look like he had been in some kind of a fight. But at least the blood was gone; Harry imagined that he had looked much more dangerous with it on him.

Harry did not dare to think about how his behind may look like. All he knew was that it would be a bad idea to sit down anytime soon. Although he had not been spanked before Harry knew that any parts of his body which had been beaten should not be put pressure of any kind on.

Slowly Harry made his way down the corridor. He grimaced when the trousers and undergarment moved against his sore butt. It was not like he could ask Snape for something against the soreness. The potion master would insist on seeing what was wrong and Harry was not sure he would survive the humiliation of Snape knowing that he had been spanked like a naughty child.

Harry head was bowed to hide his blush when he walked down the stairs to the front hall where he had left Snape together with the twins. Now he wondered how the mansion could still be standing. Perhaps the potion master had used something to knock the twins out before they managed to do something. Although Harry did not like that kind of methods he knew it could be necessary to stop the twins from doing something stupid.

Reaching the end of the stairs Harry caught sight of the twins and Snape. All three were seated in the far end of the hall, but in a way so they were able to keep an eye on the staircase which he was standing on. Harry guessed that it was not a coincidence.

Knowing that they were watching him Harry put on a smile as he walked over to the trio. Carefully he kept his eyes everywhere else than at Snape. HE was not sure he would be able to keep the mask if he looked too long at the potion master. Snape was not someone who took it kindly if someone laughed at him.

"Harry."

"Our brother and friend."

"You have survived and succeeded the task of facing the angry dragon, also known as the beloved lord Voldemort." Before Harry had a chance to react the twins pulled him down so he was sandwiched between the two older boys.

Despite the sofa's softness Harry still went rigid when his behind came in contact with the sofa's surface. As he had expected it did not seem like sitting down would be something he would do willingly in the nearest time. "Potter, was anything other than your nose hurt when you were without supervision?"

Feeling three pair of eyes on his person, Harry bowed his head so he was hiding behind his fringe, hoping that they would not see his blush while he shook his head mutely. "It will be to your own best if you did not lie to me. I strongly doubt that the dark lord will be happy to hear that you are feeling unnecessary pain.

Harry allowed himself to glare at Snape through his fringe. The man had deemed it necessary not to heal the bruises on his nose but seemed unnatural interested in why he was squirming in his seat. Harry just shook his head again. He was not about to tell anyone that he had been spanked by the dark lord.

"You know Gred, he really reminds me of that time our dear Ronnikins tried to play Qiudditch inside."

"It seems like you are right my dear Feorge. Just like after our mother had gotten her hands on him and warmed his butt with her hairbrush." In the following silence Harry wondered if it was possible to die from blushing too much. He was all too aware of the eyes on him and squirmed between the twins, desperately looking for a way out of this situation. "I have absolutely no idea of what you are talking about."

Not even to Harry himself did the words sound convincing. He scowled while the twins laughed and desperately wished that he could be anywhere else than where he was right now. Hell, even his old cupboard sounded like a good place. At least no one disturbed him while he was in there.

"Potter." The tone in Snape's voice made Harry's head snap up and he looked directly in black eyes, seeing the laughter the man was holding back. Remembering that Snape could use Legilimens Harry quickly looked away. He did not want the potion master to see his memory of the episode in the dark lord's office. Although they now knew about the spanking it would be different if Snape actually saw his memory of it. Harry was not sure he would be able to survive that.

"Are you in need of a potion to lessen the pain?" The man's voice was nearly soft and Harry blinked surprised. He had not expected professor Snape to come with such an offer to him. Mutely he shook his head but Snape continued looking at him. "It is not that bad and I have had worse."

The following silence was tense and Harry suddenly found his bare feet very interesting. He would need a bath to wash off the dirt later on.

"Hey Harry, you have to tell us how you managed to survive Dumbledore's killing curse."

"Of course we have heard the rumours but it hard to say what is true and what those small snakes are making up."

"So spill do not even think about letting anything out of the story."

"We will find out even if we have to go to the big snake himself."

Despite the pain he felt by sitting Harry could not help but grin at the twins antics. It was good to know that he had the twins on his side. And if they stayed at the manor he would no longer be alone about dealing with all the death eaters, Slytherins and Voldemort.

As if reading his thoughts Snape scowled. "If you think about pranking me again, Potter, or get your small friends to do it, I will advise you to watch your back. Some of the most deathly poisons are impossible to spot before it is too late and only a potion master will be able to help you if you should get one in you."

He had a feeling that things would be much more interesting from now on.

**)00(**

Hermione did not look up from her assignment when someone sat down in front of her. She had taken up doing her homework in the library since it gave her an excuse to get away from the Gryffindor common room. At least that way she was not surrounded by noisy Gryffindors all the time.

"The green eyed kitten is in the good hands of the silver hearted snakes." Slowly Hermione looked up from her assignment and met Luna's gaze. The fifth year Ravenclaw wore a dreamy smile and her eyes were half closed. But for once she did not have a faraway look in her eyes, but was staring directly at her. Hermione had to admit that it unnerved her quite a bit. Until now she had never seen Luna so serious looking.

"Hello Luna." As always the crazy Ravenclaw wore the earrings looking like radishes. Hermione glance around the library, not surprised to see that they were the only two in there. For once not even madam Pince was there. It was dinner time, which meant that most people were in the Great hall, stuffing food into their mouths right now. "The owl wants to find the green eyed kitten so it can apologies for the misdeeds it has made." Hermione shifted uncomfortable in her chair but leaned closer to hear what the girl was saying and lessen the chance of someone listening to what they were talking about. At least Luna was not talking about one of her crazy beings.

"Do you... do you think that the green eyed kitten will accept the owl's apology?" Luna tilted her head to the side, as if she was listening to a voice only she could hear, and frowned ever so slightly. "I will say that there is a good chance that the green eyed kitten will forgive the owl's lack of action but the owl will probably be surprised by the green eyed kitten's companion."

Hermione breathed out softly. It was one of the best things she had heard in a very long time. Since she had made up her mind she had tried to figure out how to find Harry and how he would react once she found him. She had imaged many scenes and not all of them could be called pleasant. Harry had every right to be angry at her. But she was willing to work for his forgiveness. And if being surrounded by silver hearted snakes was necessary for that she would accept that.

"Luna, do you know where the owl can find the green eyed kitten?" Luna took forth an edition of the Quibber and got a faraway look in her eyes once again. "Father and I are going to look for the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks in the Christmas Holydays, perhaps you will join us?" Hermione nodded slowly. "That sounds interesting. I will write to my parents, I am sure that as long as I stay until Christmas day they will have nothing against it.

While they both turned back to their own things Hermione frowned while she read through her essay. Luna had called Harry a green eyed kitten. She remembered seeing one with the Slytherins a few days before she had seen Harry. Could there be a connection?

**As you probably remember, I said that the light side had lost Fred and George in my last AN., I said nothing about them being dead. **

**Question time, should I let Draco and Hermione end up together? **

**Next: Will Voldemort allow Harry to go out and shop for Christmas, and if he does, who will go together with the boy? **


	18. Chapter 18

**Oh, people seems really split about Dramione, or whatever it is called. I will let the pull carry on for a chapter or two so you have a chance to tell what you think.**

**Disclaimer: Lost the fight over the rights to Harry Potter. Now I will just sit in a dark corner and sulk. **

**Warning: Christmas shopping, nothing else needs to be said.**

**Beta: ****angelhitomie **

An explosion reverberated through the mansion. Harry, together with the twins, ran down the corridor as fast as his legs could carry him. Behind them he heard the yell and curses from those who had gotten caught in the transportable swamp which they had released in the middle of the corridor to get away, even if only for a short while.

Knowing that they would be alone for a little while, since Harry's year mates would be busy with freeing themselves and finding a way around the swamp, the three boys slowed down. Harry tried calming his fast beating heart. When they were no longer able to hear the angered voices they stopped fully and lay down on the floor, not caring that they were blocking the whole corridor.

"I had forgotten how well it actually worked." Harry said with a grin big enough to nearly split his face, he was not surprised to see that the twins were wearing the same expression as he. "Last time we used it, was when we left Hogwarts."

"I think it will take some time before they manage to clean this one up." Fred said and Harry rolled to lay on his stomach so he was more comfortable. "Believe me, it works even better when it is released inside a small room, let us say a transfiguration classroom."

Harry did not have to look at the twins to know that he had their full attention. "When I was Evan I sneaked into Hogwarts one night and placed a little gift for Dumbledore in his transfiguration classroom. Tom was so nice to send me some pictures of it afterwards, someone had managed to snap a few in the confusion which came when they opened the door and first saw Dumbledore."

"Well Gred, it seems like we have managed to corrupt the boy who lived."

"It sure does. And to think that he was such an innocent looking boy when we first saw him."

"Well, we cannot call him innocent any longer, can we?"

"Will the two of you please shut up?" Harry hissed, nearly going over in Parseltongue as he glared at the grinning twins.

"Why little Harry, it is not like it is a big secret who you lost your innocence to. After all, if you had done it before you supposedly turned dark it would have been in the Daily Prophet, and any other paper."

"You were together with Cho last school year."

"And since you did not lose it to her, we can all guess that it was dear Voldie who did it." Harry groaned and let his head fall. He could not believe that they would not just let go of the subject.

"Since we know what kind of relatives you have."

"And Hogwarts does not tell you young people about this kind of things."

"I supposed it is up to us to give you the so called talk about the flowers and bees, right Feorge?"

"Of course Gred, now where to start? I known. You see, when a boy loves a girl."

"Or in your case, when a boy loves a boy."

"You are right Gred. Anyway, it all starts with a very special feeling."

"Like you have eaten a whole pack of chocolate frogs without letting them jump that one time before you eat them whole, or if you manage to swallow a snitch."

"None of the things can be recommended."

Harry groaned again and placed his hands over his head. It was not surprise that Fred and George managed to make fun of the subject. "Is it not a little too late to have a talk like this? I mean, it has been over fifty years since my first time. If anything then I should be the one to tell you guys about how it is done." As the words left his mouth Harry realised that he had made a mistake. Looking up he was met with the sight of two grinning faces. "Forget about it, I am not going to tell you a single thing, just forget about it."

He ignored the twins' protest and rolled back onto his stomach and looked out of the window. It was snowing softly and had been doing so for some time, but with the current wind it was not a weather to be outside in. The whole world seemed to be covered by a thick, heavy carpet. It was a nice view but Harry felt that he had spent way too much time doing nothing else but staring out of windows. At least he now had the twins to pull pranks with, although more and more people seemed to regret that fact. The only one who was safe from the pranks was Voldemort. Harry guessed it was because of the man's glare. It promised pain and a slow death to anyone who tried to pull a prank on him.

Harry's eyes moved up to the gray sky and a frown marred his face. Something was moving fast towards the manor. It was big and grew rapidly in size despite the fact the wind casting the thing around as if it was nothing more than a ball. He got up from the floor, ignoring the twins' questioningly looks and walked the short distance over to the window.

Harry rested his hand on the cold glass while his eyes followed the form which was still coming closer. Despite the fact that it was the middle of the day it was hard to see what the thing was.

When the thing came closer and was still heading towards where he was Harry reacted. He stood on the tip of his toes and reached for the clamp which held the big window closed and locked. The strong wind forced the window open when he removed the clamp and forced Harry to take a few steps back before he regained his balance.

Snow flew in through the window and Harry's eyes narrowed while he tried to see through the white mess. He was thankful of the potion which had helped him with getting rid of his old glasses. If he had still had those it would have been impossible for him to see anything right now.

Something hard and feathery hit him square in the chest and knocked Harry off of his feet when his arms instinctually closed around it to keep it in place and safe. He hit the floor with a soft thump and blinked in surprise, unsure of what to do. This was not exactly what he had expected to happen when he had opened the window. But Harry had to admit that he was not sure of why he had had the urge to open the window.

The snow and wind suddenly stopped and Harry realised that someone had managed to close the window and therefore lock out the winter weather. The twins stood in front of him, looking around and had their wands ready if something should happen.

Feeling the thing in his arms move Harry blinked again before looking down to see what it was he had grabbed. He guessed it was something living by the way it moved but in the Wizarding world it was never to be sure. Harry remembered all too clear the book Hagrid had given him before the start of his third year. The book had been a true monster.

Yellow eyes looked up at him without blinking and an afforded hoot came from the snow white owl with black sports in his arms.

Harry's grin became so wide that he feared it would split his face. "Hedwig!" The snow owl hooted again and nibbled his fingers none to gentle. Harry disregarded the pain he felt by the action and instead hugged the owl, not caring about the tears which were running freely down his cheeks.

He had been so sure that Hedwig was dead. If not Dumbledore had ended her life someone else would probably have killed her. Harry guessed he should not be surprised that she had survived. After all Hedwig had several times proved that she was smarter than most owls and even some of the humans Harry knew.

"What is going on here, and why is Potter sitting on the floor and crying?" The drawling voice made Harry look away from Hedwig and over to Draco who stood a little away from him with Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy and Blaise standing next to him. To his surprise they were all dressed in new robes. "You are fast to get out of the swamp. Fred and George you are getting lazy, they should not have been able to get out of it yet." The twins just grinned and shrugged. "What can we say?"

"It would be boring if we would not be able to improve our pranks."

"The world will go under if that day should ever come."

The Slytherins were the only ones who did not laugh. "It did still not answer my question."

"You would be surprised to find out how comfortable the floor actually is. Perhaps you should try it?" Draco huffed and stuck his nose up in the air. "A Malfoy does not sit on the floor." Harry just rolled his eyes. "You would be surprised to find out what a Malfoy actually can do. Mortimus and I often sat like this. Somehow we came up with some of our best plans on how to humiliate Dumbledore while sitting like this."

Harry smiled softly at the memory. Of course not all of their plans had been realistic but they had still had a lot of fun with coming up with the ideas. And they had laughed until their stomachers had hurt when they had tried to imagine what Dumbledore's reaction to those pranks would be.

Someone sat down next to him and Harry focused back at the time he was in. He turned his head enough to see that Draco was the one who had sat down next to him. Looking to his other side he found that Fred and George also had followed his example. Slowly the four other Slytherins also sat down, although Pansy sat down in Blaise's lap. Harry raised an eyebrow at that. "You cannot expect me to dirty these robes. They are imported from France and cost quite a bit, although the prize did not matter. When I saw them I just knew that I had to get them."

He just shook his head, deciding not to comment on what the girl had said. Although Harry did not understand it he knew better than to start a discussion with the girl. Mostly because he had seen what had happened to Blaise when the Italian tried to do so. Harry had no wish to suffer the same fate as him.

"Are you going to tell me what you are holding now?" Harry realised that he had their attention although Fred and George had heard him say Hedwig's name and therefore knew what was going on.

Slowly he loosened his grip so the others were able to see what he was holding, it also gave Harry a chance to check Hedwig for any injuries. Harry supposed it was the first thing he was supposed to do but the knowledge of Hedwig having returned to him had made him forget that.

"It that not your owl?" At Crabbe's voice and Hedwig's glare Harry nodded. "Yeah, this is Hedwig. I thought I had lost her forever. Hagrid gave her to me when I first came to Diagonal Alley, she was also my first birthday gift."

"What do you mean with that? Have you not received plenty of gifts before?" Harry stroked Hedwig's feathers. "I guess I got when my parents were still alive. But I guess you cannot really count old socks as a gift."

Harry's mouth clamped shut when he realised what he was saying. It was not like the abuse he had faced as a child had been common knowledge and yet he had blunted it out without a second thought.

He looked up quietly before averting his eyes back to Hedwig, as he had expected he now had their full attention although it was one of the last things he wanted to. "Can we just pretend that you did not hear what I said?" Harry was unable to keep the hopeful tone out of his voice.

"Pot- Harry, does the dark lord knows about this?" Without meeting Draco's eyes Harry first nodded, then shook his head and ended up with shrugging. "Maybe, I guess he knows a little, that is if he remembers any of it. I thought I would never return to this time so I told him a little of it, but not much. After all there was no one he could go after. Evan James did not exist before I came and therefore there would be no one to revenge."

"But Voldie is smart, for a snake that is."

"He can probably figure out that it was something which happened in your past, his future. And it should not be hard for him to find out who had done it and where they are."

Fred nodded, seemingly agreeing with his twin and said. "It is common knowledge that James Potter was an only child, which means he will look at your mother's side of the family."

"And although our dear Voldie does not actually like Muggles, he will probably use them to look for your relatives if it means that he will find them faster."

As the twins spoke Harry's face was slowly drained for blood. He had not thought that what he had said in the past would come back to bite him this way. Although he had not told Tom much about the abuse he had gone through as a child he knew both Tom and Voldemort well enough to know that they would not react positive to such knowledge. Especially not if they believed that there was something which they could do about it.

Ignoring Hedwig's hoots in protest Harry got on his feet in one move. Before anyone got a chance to follow him Harry was already half way down the corridor. Despite the fact that he was far the smallest in the group and carrying an owl Harry was still the fastest runner. Harry guessed that something good had to come of Harry hunting. Avoiding getting beaten was a surprisingly good motivation to learn how to run fast.

Because of the swamp Harry had to make a circuitous tour. It slowed him down by a few minutes but by now he knew the manor well enough to know that this was the shortest route if he wanted to reach Voldemort before anyone stopped him.

He found Voldemort's office and banged through the door without knocking, only to stop abruptly when he came face to face, or rather face to shoulder, with the person he had been searching for. Harry opened his mouth to yell at him, but froze before he could do as he intended. He clearly remembered the last time he had thought he had known something, only to find out that he had been wrong. Harry did not wish for a repeat of that and especially not the punishment which had followed afterwards. His behind still hurt whenever he thought about it.

**)00(**

Voldemort watched Evan with a raised eyebrow, silently waiting to see what was going to happen. His lover's face was flushed and he breathed fast as if he had been running long and fast without any rest.

He glanced up and down the corridor, only to see that none of those he had assigned to keep an eye on Evan was anywhere to be seen. It seemed like he would have to give them yet another talk about how important it was not to let his lover out of sight. On the other hand Evan did seem to have an ability to get away when he wanted to. It was something Voldemort had seen many times in their past encounters.

The dark lord turned his attention back to Evan, or rather the owl his lover was hugging closely to his chest like it was a teddy bear. The owl did not seem happy about the treatment but neither did it protest against it. The way the owl glared at him it seemed to be warning him against harming Evan. Much like a parent or an older sibling would do, although there were no words involved in this warning. Voldemort nodded slightly to show that he had understood the message.

Evan finally seemed to have caught his breath, at least he was breathing more evenly now. Neither moved while they waited, for what Voldemort guessed only Evan knew.

"Hedwig has found me." Despite the happy tone his lover mumbled, as if he feared that Voldemort would do something to harm the owl. Without saying anything Voldemort stepped aside and gestured for Evan to get inside. With a bowed head Evan did as he was told.

Voldemort watched Evan with a frown. Although he knew for sure that Evan had not been outside today because of the weather, his lover had wet spots on his robes. He supposed it had something to do with the noise he had heard earlier on. He should have known that letting those blasted twins into his home would not have been a good idea, but they made Evan happy, which meant he could look through the chaos they created around in his home. After all the twins also supplied him and his people with creations which were useful in the war. It seemed like none of the Aurors knew what to do when they were facing a denture which tried to take a chunk of their behind.

His lover's eyes flashed around as if he was looking for something, although Voldemort was not sure about what it could be. "Place the owl on the desk."

"Hedwig, her name is Hedwig." Voldemort rolled his eyes but did not otherwise comment when Evan did as told and gently placed the owl, Hedwig, on the desk. Voldemort stood next to his lover, secretly enjoying the closeness between them and sent charms and a few older spells after the owl. Unlike other of her kind Hedwig did not once move to get away but silently watched him as if waiting for him to get finished.

Finally satisfied Voldemort nodded. "There is no tracking spells or curses on her, but I would like to know how she managed to get through the wards. It should have been impossible." Evan snorted, breaking off Voldemort's mutters. "Honestly, Hedwig is one of the smartest owls alive. If not because it was impossible I would say she and Ares were related." This time it was Voldemort who snorted. From what he could see there was no resemblance between the two owls. But he had to admit that the snowy owl had to be smart to find his hiding place.

"Are there any other reason to why you came to see me?" He followed the tongue with his eyes when Evan wetted his lips. "I wanted to know if..." Evan hesitated and shifted his weight from one food to the other and then back again. "I want to go shopping for Christmas." Evan said and nodded fiery as if he had just convinced himself about it. Voldemort looked at his lover for a long time. "And why would you do that? Do you not know how dangerous it is for you to move around where people can see you? People believe that you are dead, and if they see a dead person they never react well." If he let Evan leave Voldemort was not sure he would see the boy again. He had already lost Evan once, it was something he did not want to happen again. Evan was his and they would stay together forever. This time there was nothing which would be allowed to get between them.

"I will be careful and make sure that no one recognises me. Besides, how else do you expect me to get gifts for everyone?" Voldemort felt a flare of jealousy by the thought of other people getting gifts from his Evan. "And why would you have to buy gifts for everyone?"

"Maybe not everyone, but I have gotten a lot of friends. It is only naturally to give gifts to your friends. Besides, this way it will be harder for you to figure out what I am going to give you."

Voldemort looked back at the owl as if this was all the bird's fault. He had a strong feeling of that it actually was the case. "Very well, but you will be disguised and I choose your guards."

"I want Fred and George with me." Although he had a feeling that he was going to regret this Voldemort nodded. "Fine, but the Malfoys are accompanying you. That way I am sure that nothing happens to you and I know for a fact that they are also planning on shopping for Christmas gifts."

"Deal."

They shook hands before Evan quickly grabbed the owl and left, probably to tell the two red haired twins what was going to happen. Voldemort rubbed his eyes with a soft sigh. At least he already knew what to give Evan and he knew for sure that his lover would love the gift.

As he looked out of the window Voldemort could not help but feel that Evan's shopping trip would somehow end in chaos. He would call Lucius and order the Malfoy lord to make sure that nothing happened on the trip.

**)00(**

"Now Harry, you just have to eat this candy."

"And make sure you swallow it, it has some less pleasant effects if you chew it.

"Then you just have to wait for a minute and the transformation will be complete." The twins explained as Fred handed him the candy. They have swallowed theirs already and their transformation was complete. They were supposed to be a couple, where Fred was the one who was supposed to be Lucius' cousin, while George looked like an older version of Fleur. If he remembered right they were supposed to be from France.

Nodding Harry took the candy and swallowed it without any complains. He waited the minute without anything happening. Harry opened his mouth to ask the twins if something could be wrong with the candy, when his whole body suddenly jerked. He stumbled but managed to stay on his feet as Harry felt how his body slowly started to change. Harry stared at the mirror in front of him, wanting to follow the process.

The whole process kind of reminded him of when he shifted into Beleza.

His body started to shrink and fill out a little, although not much but it did make him look healthier. His hair grew shorter and turned into the same white nuance as Draco's the same happened to his skin which was now missing the scar on his forehead. Lifting his hand Harry realised that the scar there was also gone. Looking back at the mirror Harry could not help but grimace. He looked like a younger Draco, something which he had never believed would happen.

"I am going to have nightmares because of this. I have been traumatised for the rest of my life." Even his voice had changed to that of a child's. "It is going to take some time to get used to this."

"Get dressed Harry, the disguise will last longer than a polyjuice, and it is not as easy to get through as a glamour."

"But there still is a time limit on it."

Nodding Harry grabbed his way too big robes and made them shrink until they fit his size before he looked up at the twins once again. "Are we going to leave now F- I mean dad?" Harry winced at the word. It felt wrong to call anybody than his real father that but he guessed that it could not be helped. He was supposed to be posing as the twins' son and what kid would call their parents by their names? Harry grabbed their hands before dragging the twins after him. "Now, let us get going, I want to go shopping."

It was definitely going to take some time before he got used to hearing that voice whenever he spoke.

They found the three Malfoys waiting for them in the entrance hall, all dressed in warm robes which screamed of money. Harry met Draco's gaze scowling at the fact that he now was even smaller than the blonde than he normally was. "A Malfoy does not scowl, it is very unbecoming." Draco said as if repeating something which he had heard several times when he himself had been a child.

Harry grinned and looked up at the bigger blonde. "I can name at least one Malfoy who did this and several other things. For example there was that time involving a centaur."

"I believe that it is time for us to leave to avoid the worst crowd." Harry glared at Lucius and was about to continue when he was pushed towards the fireplace. Grumbling Harry grabbed some floo powder and quickly glanced around. The dark lord had left this morning before he awoke leaving Nagini with a message that he would be back later.

Harry followed after the twins through the fireplace. Normally a child would not use the fireplace alone, but although he just looked like a little kid at five he was he was sixteen years old. There was not even half a year before he would be considered a grown up in the Wizarding world.

Gringotts was filled with people when Harry stumbled out of the big fireplace. Pale, slender hands grabbed him and stopped him from falling face first. Harry looked up to see Draco's face. But the blonde cast a short glance at the twins, who were already making their way through the crowd. "One would think that they would be smart enough to keep a hand on him, but no of course not. Probably planning another prank. I do not understand why the dark lord insisted that they had to come along. It would be much easier without them."

Holding his hand Draco started dragging him along. Harry had to run to follow with the Slytherin; it was either that or be dragged. At the same time he had to avoid the people around him. They stepped aside for Draco but it was as if he was invisible to them.

Draco seemed to get tired of how slow they were moving and before Harry had a chance to protest Draco had lifted him, placed him on the boy's hip and had started walking again. "I can walk just fine myself that you know it." Harry grumbled while placing his arms around Draco's neck. "Maybe, but with your pace it will take us all day and unlike us others you actually have a curfew."

Harry had a very good feeling of who was behind the so called curfew. Trust Voldemort to make it so Harry only had a limited time. He would just have to make sure that he got the best out of the time he had. They reached the rest of their group just as the others had made their way over to one of the counters with a goblin behind it. "Lord Malfoy, I know that you need to talk with your manager but Christmas is our busiest time and there are people who have been waiting for hours for it to be their turn. So if you would please sit down and wait for your turn we can all get on with our day."

Not liked that he would lose time on waiting Harry wiggled until Draco finally placed him on the floor. Before the blonde could grab his hand, Harry stepped away and over to Lucius so he was standing next to the tall Malfoy. Annoyed Harry saw that he was facing the counter. He took a step back so he could look up at the goblin, who was leaning over the counter to look at him. "Griphok, would you please inform Ragnok that Evan James, accompanied with friends, is here to discuss some business? Of course, if he is not interested in continuing our corporation I guess I will just take my business another place and therefore Gringotts will no longer have any benefit of it."

Griphok looked down at him for a long time, before he finally nodded. "Very well, if you will just wait for a short moment, I will make sure that Ragnok is contacted." Harry watched as a young goblin was sent away before he went over to the waiting area, where he was joined by the others.

Hearing Fred and George snicker softly as they sat down with him between them, Harry rolled his eyes although he understood the reason to their good mood. It was the first time that they had seen that the name of a simple ward maker could get one farther than the Malfoy name could. He guessed it was one of the good things about having friends among those most people looked down on. No wizard realised how much easier their life would be if just they treated others with the kindness they deserved.

It did not take long before the goblin returned. Harry jumped down from his seat with a smile. "Ragnok is awaiting Mr. James." Harry jumped down from his seat. "Thanks, I can find the way myself. Are you two coming?" Harry said without looking back at the twins. After all they had to keep up facade. Luckily it did not seem like anyone had noticed how strange he was acting. Well, to Harry it was not strange but he was supposed to be a child so he guessed that it could be seen as strange. On the other hand, this was the Wizarding world. Stranger things had to have happened than a child who did not act normal.

Closely followed by the disguised twins Harry led the way to Ragnok's office. He had walked the way so many times that he could go it with closed eyes and not take a single wrong turn. As long as none of the goblins walked in front of him he would have no problems.

Knocking on the door Harry opened it and stepped inside without waiting for the answer. Although no humans were to be seen he knew that one of the Weasley boys were working for the bank. Not only did he not want to be seen but Harry was not sure how the twins would react to see one of their relatives. They were after all considered dead now.

As he had expected Ragnok sat behind his desk and worked on what looked to be important papers. Having heard them come in Ragnok looked up. The goblin glanced briefly at the two behind him before turning his attention to Harry. "Is it one of your experimental pranks gone wrong again or is there a logical explanation to why you are looking like a child of the Malfoy family?"

Grinning Harry rubbed the back of his head. "I could not just prank people without knowing for sure that the prank worked. But this time it was not a prank which backfired. I am supposed to look like this, I know that certain people are looking for me and it will be in my best interest that I am not found by them." Shivers ran down his spine at the thought of ending in Dumbledore's hands again. Although he did not fear the old headmaster he had no wish about going through the same torture as he already had suffered by Dumbledore's hand.

"And may I ask who came up with this disguise?" Harry nodded and after a few attempts George finally helped him so he could get up in one of the chairs in front of Ragnok's desk. "Why Fred and George Weasley, of course." The goblin looked straight at the twins who now sat at either side of Harry. "Excuse me for being blunt but are the two of you not supposed to be dead?"

The twins shared a grin, to Harry it looked just plain wrong to see that kind of expression on a Malfoy's face which did not belong to Mortimus. He was thankful that it would only be for today that he would have to endure this. But when they went out again he would make sure that they chose different disguises. At least something where he was not caught in a child's body with all its limits. He guessed he should be thankful that he was not a girl, Harry was not sure he would survive that. And the twins would not let him forget about it for a single moment although they had been in the same kind of situation.

"From the rumours I have heard about the Weasley twins, I am somehow not surprised. But tell me what you three are doing inside my office, someone mentioned something about business."

"That would be us." Fred cut in and had Ragnok's attention from the moment he opened his mouth. "We were wondering."

"If it is not already too late."

"That there would be some way to stop the old coot from getting his hands on our hard earned money."

"Make up a last moment will."

"Or something like that."

Ragnok hummed lowly and got a thoughtful look in his eyes. "I supposed that it would be possible. After all you are not really dead, so the money is still yours. And as you both guessed no one has managed to claim the money. A certain period of time after dead has to pass before we start looking for such a thing as a will. But be aware that it will not be cheap."

The twins shared a look before nodding. "We have earned enough money so we can pay for that."

Harry watched in silence as the twins and Ragnok worked on the will. Several times his eyes travelled over to the door before returning his attention to what was going on around him. Usually he had nothing against waiting through such things but he knew his time was limited. Every second which passed meant that he was one second closer to returning to the manor, and he had yet to leave Gringotts.

After what seemed like being forever the twins finally signed the last paper and nodded to Ragnok before the three of them stood. Harry was about to follow with the two red haired boys when Ragnok called him back. Making sign for them to wait for him outside Harry turned back to face the goblin who was still sitting behind the big desk.

"And how are you healing?" The question took him unprepared and Harry hesitated. "Well, I guess. Snape is feeding me potions, and although they taste awful I guess they are helping, at least I did not have any fits since I started on them, which I guess is a good thing. Unfortunately I am forbidden to use my magic until Snape gives me permission to do so. It is something about the potion messing up with my magic and if I use it too much I risk destroying the whole process which has been made until now."

Ragnok nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer. "I expect you to follow the potion master's orders, and when you are healed, then I will arrange a meeting between us. It is about time that you get back at work, it would not do for you to forget how to ward people's homes." Harry realised that Ragnok was actually joking but was too choked to do anything than nod. "I guess so."

When he emerged from the office it was with a purse in his robe's pocket with Galleons from the vault he had as Evan James. He had not dared to take any money from the vaults which his parents and Sirius had left him. Although Ragnok swore that it should be impossible, Harry feared that Dumbledore might have some way to keep track of those. But there was no way that Dumbledore could be alerted if he took money from the one he had made as Evan James. Harry had been surprised to see how much money he had when Ragnok had written it down for him. It seemed like standing untouched for over fifty years had done a lot of good to his vault.

Harry found the twins waiting for him outside the room. Surprised and slightly nervous he took in their perfect imitation of the Malfoy family. He knew that the only times were the twins were quiet was when they were planning something. Harry just hoped that they would be able to wait until they had finished shopping. Harry wanted this to run as smoothly and painless as possible.

Walking between the twins Harry went back to the vestibule. Somehow he was not surprised to see that even more people had managed to get into Gringotts while he had been in Ragnok's office. He now understood what Lucius had meant when he had said he wanted to avoid the worst crowd. If Diagonal Alley was anything like this he nearly wished that Voldemort had not agreed to let him leave the manor. But at least people would not be gawking at him which Harry guessed was a good thing all things considered.

They found the Malfoys waiting for them near the exit, by the look of it Harry guessed they had finished whatever they had come to do. Harry mirrored their posture, straightening his back and lifting his chin. Harry felt ridiculous but Harry guessed it was small price to pay for being outside. People were less likely to notice him if he was just one among many. Of course being with the Malfoys and looking like one meant he was stared at, but at least people did not try to shake his hand.

**)00(**

With a satisfied sigh Harry leaned back in the chair and let his legs swing back and forth under the table while he ignored the amused glances which were sent in his direction. Who would have thought that finding gifts for so many people would be so tiring? At least he now had the gifts he needed although he had had Ragnok to promise to sent him a few things from Grimmauld Place, after making sure that there was no curses or hexes on them. He did not fancy the thought of him or the receiver of the thing suffering a slow and painful death.

Licking his ice cream Harry silently watched the bypasses. As he had expected they were being stared at. But Harry was not sure if it was because of who they were, or at least who people thought they were. And although he did not like the attention no one was trying to shake his hand for something he did not even remember doing.

"Only you, Potter, would choose ice cream. If you have failed to notice it, then it is freezing cold and winter. No normal person would eat ice cream at this time of the year." Harry patiently listened with one ear as Draco continued talking. Somehow the blonde managed to go from ice cream to complain about the amount of homework his tutors were assigning him although they were supposed to have vacation now. Harry rolled his eyes but kept still. So far he had heard twenty three different lectures from Draco on different things which Malfoys did just not do.

The only thing which stopped Draco from berating Fred and George were because they were older than him and supposed to have grown up the Malfoy way. But Harry saw the glares Draco sent in the twins' way and, unfortunately, nothing stopped the blonde from taking his annoyance out on Harry.

Through half closed eyes Harry watched as people moved past them, while they themselves had finally finished with what they came for. People had wandered off in turns while always making sure that someone stayed with him. Although Harry hated that he was being treated like a child he understood the necessarily of having at least one guard with him. The risk of someone from the Order being there was big and although Harry doubted that they would be able to recognize him he guessed it was best not taking too many chances. But that did not mean that he was not tired of being constantly watched, and by now he was ready to go back to the manor if it meant that he could get a moment for himself.

A head covered by red hair came to view and Harry's body tensed with anticipation as his eyes followed the red head until the person, together with a brown haired, tall but clumsy built boy. Glancing at his guards for the day Harry knew that no one had seen what he had seen and for the first time since they had left the manor no one was paying attention to him.

Not wanting to waste the chance he had gotten, and not sure if he would get a chance like this again, Harry slit down from the seat. Holding his breath he slowly stepped away from the purebloods while clutching the ice cream in his hands as of it could hide him from views the same way as his invisible cloak had done so many times before. As the distance between he and the group grew Harry's pace lengthened and he moved faster. He wanted this over and done with before anyone noticed he was gone. If it did not take too long he could just claim that he had gone to the toilet.

Although Harry was not the best at lying he hoped it would work.

Harry slipped inside the bookstore without being seen. Although there were not so many people in there as out on the street or in Gringotts it was still hard to see much from his point of view. Knowing that he would not have much time before his disappearance would be noticed Harry got on the move. He had to find the pair before someone found it strange that a child was walking around all on its own.

Luckily only a few people in the British Wizarding world had this nuance of the fiery red hair and as far as Harry knew all of them belonged to the Weasley family, so it did not take him long to find the person he had spotted out on the street.

Harry hid behind a shelf in the Herbology section of the shop and glared at Ron before looking over at the brown haired wizard. Both of them were standing with their backs to him so Harry knew that they would not notice him anytime soon.

"Neville, why waste time in an old and dusty bookshop? Do not tell me that you are turning into another Hermione." Ron's voice could easily be heard halfway through the store and Harry winced. Last time he had heard his former best mate's voice was when the Slytherins' had saved him from the cell. It still hurt to think about his so called friends' betrayal and Harry wanted nothing more than to make him pay for all the pain the red head had inflicted on him. But since he had promised Mortimus not to use magic until he was cured there was not much he could do for now.

"If you are so bored you are welcome to go to the Quidditch shop and wait for me there. But I have waited for this book to come out for a very long time and it will only take a few minutes to locate it and then we will be gone." Harry cursed in his mind when Ron did not leave. He wanted to warn Neville about Dumbledore's plans. And although the Gryffindor would probably not believe him, after all Harry did look like a Malfoy, it would make Harry feel better that he at least had tried. And even if Neville did not believe him Harry would have planted the seed of doubt in the wizard's mind.

"I cannot just leave you, you are my best mate." Both Harry and Neville flinched at this but Ron did not seem to notice it. "With Voldemort and these death eaters running around freely someone has to protect you." At Ron's loud words several people glanced in the duo's direction and Harry snorted softly. Ron was doing a bad job at making Neville look like a hero to the people. "Ron, it is very unlike that You Know Who will attack Diagonal Alley, he has been awfully quiet lately and other than one attack there has been no other activity from his side."

"Yeah, Dumbledore and the Order did a damn good job at scaring them away. It is very unlike that he will be brave enough to show his ugly face again."

A loud hiss followed with a growl came from Harry as he stepped forth from his hiding place. No one was allowed to call Voldemort ugly, especially not someone who seemed to be made of freckles and red hair. Of course Fred and George were different, at least they were not backstabbing their supposed friends.

The sound alerted the two boys about his presence and they turned around to face him. Seeing who it was Neville relaxed and even sent him a small smile which Harry quickly returned. Ron, on the other hand, sneered and Harry found himself unable to hold his tongue. "When my cousin does that he is scary and at the same time beauty. You, on the other hand, would not even scare a child, and, although I did not believe that it would be possible, you actually get uglier than you already are."

"Why you little."

Having known Ron for as many years as he had Harry was prepared for the curse sent in his direction and moved before it could hit him.

Letting tears come forth Harry looked up at the red head with wide eyes. "You are not nice." At least it seemed like looking like a child was finally paying off. When Ron raised his wand to try and curse him Neville stepped in between them. "That is enough, Ron, he is only a child." Both boys were gaping at the Gryffindor, Harry was the first one to recover from the shock of seeing Neville actually stopping a fight.

Sniffing Harry waited until Neville turned around to face him before he let the tears fall. He blamed it on the Slytherins he had been surrounded by for a long time. It was because of them he, hopefully, would be able to do the performance he was about to deliver.

"I-I-I just wanted to say hello to you bu-but then he talked loud and he sounded scary and angry and I want my mother!" Harry was fully aware of the attention he was drawing towards them, but he also knew that he had to keep up the act. At least this way Ron would not try to curse him again.

Through the tears he saw how Neville's expression softened while Ron scowled. "Leave the kid alone, Neville. Can you not see that it is a Malfoy, he is probably already one of You Know Who's followers?" Ron pushed past Neville and grabbed Harry's arm hard enough to leave bruises. With no care the expensive fabric Ron yanked it up with enough force to rip the fabric.

Ron stared down at Harry's pale and unmarked skin together with the nearest people around them. "It is only a question about time. I bet his parents are already teaching him dark arts and how to torture defenceless muggles."

The red head showed him in the chest and Harry's back hit the shelf he had hid behind before he fell to the floor. Harry started wailing with new energy, knowing that although Ron had a younger sister, he did not deal well with small kids, especially not when they were crying.

As he had expected Ron stepped away as if he had been burned. "Not so big about it now, are we?" Harry wanted to beat Ron with his own two hands since he was not allowed to use magic, but he knew that he had to keep up the facade. He was on unfriendly ground and outnumbered. It was best for him to play his role and hope he did it well enough.

Two hands grabbed him under the arms and suddenly Harry found himself pressed flush against a body. The hands shifted until he had one under his bum while the other rubbed his back comforting. Harry wrapped his arms and legs around the person's neck and waist to make sure that he would not fall. Peeking over the shoulder of the person Harry saw Ron glaring at him. Unable to resist the opportunity Harry stuck his tongue out at the Weasley.

"Come little friend, let us get you back to your family. Tell me, what is your name?" Neville asked as he carried Harry out of the shop. "I am Tiberius Castor Malfoy the second and I are from France." Making sure that no one was in earshot Harry moved around until his mouth was close to Neville's ear. "I will warn you about Dumbledore, Neville. He is not the good person he claims to be and has caused misery for many people. Ask yourself would Harry Potter really abandon those he considered his friends?"

Neville's steps faltered and Harry did not even have to look at the Gryffindor to know that he was gaping. Sighing Harry realised that the rubbing had also stopped. It was a petty since he had rather enjoyed it.

"Tiberius!" Both Harry and Neville's bodies tensed at the loud words which sounded somewhere from Harry's left. He had heard that voice enough times the past hours to recognise it and he sighed. It seemed like he had been gone for a longer time than he had been planning to.

Falling back in the act as a child Harry lifted his head and scanned the crowd until he saw Fred and George, still in their disguises, heading his way together with the Malfoys. Looking around he saw several faces of death eaters, all someone where it had been impossible to prove their guilt or whom never had been suspected. It seemed like his little trip had made people panic more than he had originally thought it would.

As soon as the twins reached them Harry turned around in Neville's arms until he was facing the small group. "Mama, papa, I got lost but then I was found. And there was this weasel which was really mean and I do not like him." Harry said as he was taken from Neville and hugged tightly. "But then Neville helped me, he is my good friend." Harry exclaimed proudly as Neville blushed at his words.

"It was nothing." Neville said, looking at the ground, then at them and then back at the ground. "I guess that it is normal to a help a child. I will have to leave now, there is a book which I need to buy." Neville all but ran back to the bookshop and Harry sighed as he rested his head on Fred's shoulder. It saddened him to see Neville run off like that, somehow more than it had done seeing Ron again. He and Neville had never really been friends but the quiet boy had let Harry hide with him in the greenhouses whenever there had been a need for it. Hopefully Neville would heed his warning.

Harry became aware that they were moving when it suddenly became warm around him once again. Surprised Harry realised that they were inside and lifted his head and saw that they were in the Leaky Cauldron where they had planned to go so they could return to the manor once they had finished with their drinks and he, his ice cream.

Seeing that they were heading to the fireplace Harry let out a soft sigh, he knew better than to fight his return to the manor. It was already very unlikely that he would be allowed to leave again, but it did not mean that he would just accept it.

**)00(**

"**Tom, there is probably nothing wrong, who knows maybe he just went to the bathroom**." Voldemort continued pacing back and forth in his fore chamber. "**I knew I should never have let him leave. Who knows what can have happened to him**?" Voldemort's mind eagerly produced a picture of a wounded Evan who lay on the ground. The snow under him was slowly turning red and his green eyes were staring lifelessly up at the sky.

A shudder ran through his body and Voldemort shook his head to clear it from thoughts. Evan would be fine and if he was not Voldemort would make sure that whoever had dared to hurt what was his would suffer the consequences. "**I should be doing something instead of just waiting for news. I am lord Voldemort; I will not just sit with my hands in my lap while others are looking for Evan**."

Narcissa had given him a floo call fifteen minutes ago with the news about Evan's disappearance He had been about to go himself to lead the search for his lover but Narcissa and Nagini had both argued against it. Instead he had sent some of his followers to help with the search, while making sure that they knew that Evan was not to be harmed.

"**Someone has to be here to have an overview of the search, besides it will make it easier for people to contact you and Evan will get to you faster if people know where you are**."

"**I hate it when you go all logical on me**." Nagini ignored the words and both of them look at the fireplace when the flames suddenly turned green.

Out of the fireplace came five blondes, one of the carrying a small child no more than four or five years old. The child had buried its head in the woman's shoulder as if trying to hide from view. Voldemort noticed that the child's robes, he recognised them as the robes which the houseelves had laid out to Evan this morning, were ruffled and one of the sleeves were ripped. Voldemort walked over to the child and took it from one of the twins, which one it was he did not know.

"No. Put me down." Voldemort ignored Evan's protest, holding the small body close to his own, he needed to know that Evan really was there and was not going to disappear again. "When is he going to turn back to normal?" He pressed Evan's face against his shoulder to muffle his lover's voice and hold him in place with a hand under the boy's bum. "It can happen any minute now." The twins had already changed back to their old selves. "Leave us alone and inform the others that he had been found."

Voldemort waited until the last one had disappeared, either through the door or back through the fireplace. When the door closed and the fire turned back to its original colour he finally let out a breath of relief. He had his lover back where the boy belonged and he would not let him go again.

As the twins had predicted Evan's body changed until Voldemort had to let go of him so they were standing closely, but he still hugged the boy.

Voldemort grabbed his lover's head and turned it swiftly so they were facing each other and dove in for a rough kiss. Voldemort broke of the kiss, listening to Evan painting and lifted his head so his chin was resting on the top of Evan's head. "You are back."

"Let go of me."

He ignored Evan's demand and instead shifted the grip so he could lift his lover slightly before walking into the bedroom. Closing the door behind them Voldemort stood. "Why did you ran away Evan?" His lover yawned, apparently his little outing had tired him more than Voldemort had expected. "I had to warn him." Voldemort frowned at Evan's words. "Who?"

"Neville, he had to be warned about Dumbledore."

Voldemort could not help but smirk when he placed Evan on the bed. Normally he would not let go of a subject like this but he guessed that there would be less yelling if they were both rested and calm.

Placing Evan on the big bed Voldemort undressed his lover. A frown marred his face when he took in the marks on his lover's arm. Whoever had dared to harm what was his would pay for this.

Undressing himself Voldemort got in the bed with Evan and pulled the cover over them. "I am not tired." Evan mumbled while snuggling closer to him. "Of course not, now go to sleep."

"I am going to kick your arse if you continue ordering me around. I am no kid."

Voldemort removed some hair from Evan's face and caressed his baby soft cheek. He held Evan close to his chest, feeling bliss by the exchange of heat and breathed in his lover's soft scent. It seemed like sleep had no mercy on anyone because although Voldemort wanted to continue looking at his lover he soon dozed off himself.

Caring about others was a hard job. If he got grey hairs after this he would blame them fully on Evan.

**Next: Find out Dumbledore's reaction to the twins' stunt, and Christmas will be in the next chapter. What will Harry and Voldemort give to each other? Also, I believe it is time for a talk between Voldemort and Harry in the next chapter. **


	19. Chapter 19

**One more chapter and we have reached twenty, let us see if this story can get to the 900 before that. *Look up with puppy eyes* Please, Mortimus promised me ice cream if it was the case but the shop which sells the ice cream is soon closing for the winter.**

**Beta: ****angelhitomie **

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own Harry Potter, that would be J. K. Rowling. I am just borrowing her character to write the stories my sick mind comes up with. **

Harry was brought back to the world of the living by the sunlight hitting him directly in the face. When he tried to turn away and go back to sleep he found himself unable to move. Wanting to know what kept him in place Harry opened his eyes. He found himself lying on his left side and staring into a green wall, testing his limbs he tried to get used to the feeling of being back in his own body. Being a child had been even weirder than the one time he and Ron had taken polyjuice to look like Goyle and Crabbe.

He did not need to look behind him to know to whom the arms around his chest and waist belonged to. Shifting Harry's eyes widened when he realised that he was stark naked. And he knew Voldemort well enough to know that the wizard never slept with clothes on.

While Voldemort was still soundly asleep Harry tried to wiggle himself free, hoping to get out of Voldemort's grip without waking the man. He felt like a caterpillar he once had watched in his aunt's garden. It had spent a long time to get out of its cocoon where it had been transformed into a butterfly. However it did not seem like Voldemort was agreeing with his plans, even in his sleep the wizard was working against him. He felt the man tighten his grip around his body.

Harry started wiggling around more aggressively until he was pulled flush against Voldemort's chest. Harry lay still and did nearly not even dare to breathe, he did not want Voldemort to wake up while they were in this position. As it was right now Harry was particular defenceless, something which he did not like to think about.

But while he was unmoving Voldemort began ravishing Harry's body while the man slept on. Harry felt fingers move over his chest and stop around one of his nipples. He recoiled backwards when the fingers took hold of it and twisted it. The other hand moved downwards and Harry pushed himself backwards, attempting to get away from the stroking hands.

The movement did not seem to bother Voldemort and the man's hand simply continued its way downwards towards Harry's groin. Harry tried to move away but found his buttocks pressing against Voldemort's morning wood.

"Damn it, wake up." Harry hissed and stilled. Hearing a hissing laughter from the foot of the bed he lifted his head. Harry looked down at Nagini who was watching him with amusement shining in her eyes. "**Help me out of this**."

Nagini slit over to him and rose until she was hovering over the pair. Harry tilted his head so he could continue to look at the snake. "**You look rather comfortable and after what happened yesterday I doubt that Tom will let you leave his side**." Harry muttered dark curses at the snake although it did not seem to bother Nagini. "**I will leave the two of you alone.**" Harry glared darkly at the snake as Nagini made her way down the bed and out of the door which opened and closed after her.

Voldemort's leg wrapped themselves around Harry's own, stopping every movement from Harry. At the same time the dark lord's hands continued roaming over his body as if he was remembering everything in his sleep.

Having gotten enough Harry did an uppercut on Voldemort's chin as he drove his head upwards.

The hands let go of him but before Harry could celebrate his sudden freedom the bigger wizard had rolled around so Harry was under him and Voldemort was hovering over him placing big one hand on either side of his head, effectively keeping him trapped. Harry stared silently into blood red eyes, which blinked slowly to get the sleep out of them. Voldemort looked down at him with a frown as if he did not understand what had happened. Harry licked his lips trying to ignore the way Voldemort's eyes followed the movement and the erection digging into his thigh. "That was a very stupid thing to do, Evan."

The dark lord lifted his hands and caressed his face with a gentleness Harry knew that the man would never show anyone else. "I am a Gryffindor, we live to do stupid things. Now move, I want to get up." The caress changed to a hard grip around his chin. "What you did yesterday was a very stupid thing. I allowed you to leave the manor because I trusted you to stay with them and to stray out of troubles." Harry tried to shake the hand off of him but Voldemort held his head still until he gave up.

"Maybe it was stupid, or whatever else you want to call it, but it was something which I had to do." Voldemort leaned forward until there were only a few inches between them and Harry's breath got caught in his throat. "How about you tell me exactly what it was you did yesterday?"

Voldemort let go of his chin and placed both hands on either sides of Harry's head. Harry cleared his throat, looking out of the window. Although the sky was covered by clouds it was staring to get lighter outside. It meant that only a few would be up at this time and unless something of importance happened none of them would dare to disturb the dark lord while he was supposed to sleep.

"I wanted to warn Neville. He deserved to know that Dumbledore is a dangerous man and cannot be trusted. I am not sure if he believes me but I knew him well enough to know that he will remember it even if he does not really believe in what I told him. Perhaps it can save his life, but hopefully it will never get so far." Harry winced when Voldemort fisted his hair and tugged hard so Harry had to follow the move. "You are truly a kitten. You go your own ways without a second thought about the consequences. And as a kitten I am sure you managed to get yourself into every possible trouble while you were on your own."

Harry bit his lower lip and averted his gaze from Voldemort while he wondered how much he was supposed to tell Voldemort. A hard tug in his hair forced him to look back at Voldemort. "Do not look away while I am speaking to you."

"I saw Ron and Neville together in Diagonal Alley. I followed after them into a book store. It was not my intention to be seen. Despite what other people seem to believe I am not stupid. I knew it would be unwise to get in a fight when it is not safe for me to use my magic. I just planned on staying hidden because in that form and without my magic it would be foolish to face Ron in a fight."

Harry did not try to keep the loathing out of his voice. It was too early for him to lie and he had a feeling that Voldemort would see right through any attempts he might make. "But when Ron said something which made me angry I kind of forgot about that plan." Voldemort thrusted against him and Harry threw his head back in a moan. "What did the blood traitor say that made you act so careless?" Every word was emphasized with a thrust and Harry meowed lowly. "He called you an ugly snake face and it made me angry, especially because it is not true."

Over him Voldemort stilled all movements and Harry was not sure whether he should feel disappointed or happy. It was damn hard to concentrate when Voldemort was turning your own body against you. "What happened then?" Thinking back at the episode in the book shop Harry could not help but grin. "I compared him to Draco and found that blondes are more beautiful than red heads. Apparently he did not like hearing that."

"Do I have a reason to be wary of Draco?" Harry snorted and sent Voldemort a disgusted look. "Draco is like an annoying older brother I never wished I had. When we are not arguing we get along well enough but that is about it. It would simply be too weird."

"Good, because I do not share, with anybody. You are mine and mine alone."

Voldemort's fingers let go of his hair and wandered down Harry's body, paying attention to every inch of it. "What happened then?" Harry gasped for air when Voldemort's fingers closed around his manhood and started moving in tortures slow movements. "We insulted each other, and he decided to prove to the people in the shop that I really was a death eater. That hurts!" While he had talked Voldemort had tightened the grip until it became too painful to bear.

A raised eyebrow was the only answer he got but the grip lessened and the stroking continued for a little while before Harry decided to start talking again. It had nothing to do with the way Voldemort was looking at him which made him feel like a prey facing a predator. "Nothing really happened after that. Neville interrupted before Ron could do anything to me. Afterwards he carried me out of the shop to look for the so called family. When I was sure that no one would hear it I delivered my message to Neville. I think I shocked him pretty badly but before I had a chance to read his reaction the others found us. Neville handed me over and then took off as fast as possible."

"So nothing else happened?"

Harry thought for a long time before he finally shook his head. "No, nothing of importance happened." Voldemort's hand moved away and Harry bit back a groan of disappointment. The dark lord did not need to torture people he just had to make them sexual frustrated and they would tell him everything he wanted to hear. "So if nothing of importance happened, than why do you have bruises on your arm?" Following Voldemort's gaze Harry's eyes widened. Where Ron had gripped him yesterday the grip had been hard enough to left bruises around his wrist.

"It is not something which I cannot deal with on my own." Harry forced out through clenched teeth while he met Voldemort's gaze head on. "Evan, do you not realise how imprudent what you did was? Without your magic you are defenceless. There is nothing to stop people from harming you."

"You talk as if I am some kind of child who is unable to take care of itself. I have faced many life or death situations and I have managed to get out of them alive just fine. What is it which makes you believe that I am unable to do so any longer?"

Hovering over him Voldemort had an unreadable expression in his face which made Harry shift nervously. If not because he knew better he would say that Voldemort actually looked like he was worried about him.

Suddenly Harry felt himself engulfed in a strong embrace where he was caught between the mattress and Voldemort's body. "Do you have any ideas about what I felt when I got the news about your death? While the others celebrated Grindelwald's defeat I was left to deal with the sorrow of having lost you. I had not even gotten used to the thought of you being dead before I was being sent back to the orphanage. A few of my followers managed to convince their parents to take me in but every time they tried Dumbledore was in the way. He wanted me to stay at the orphanage and because of his new status as a hero people were more than inclined to listen to him."

Voldemort got a faraway look in his eyes as if he was in deep thoughts about the past he was talking about. "I opened the Chamber of Secrets when I was in my sixth year and I wanted the snake to go after all muggleborns in the school before I would let it loose in the real world. It would be a good way to clean out in the student body at the school and Dumbledore would get in troubles because people would expect him to take care of it. But he would not be able to do so because if one cannot speak Parseltongue it is impossible to enter the Chamber of Secrets. But when Myrtle died and the school was in danger of being closed down, which meant I would have to return even earlier to the orphanage, I realised that I could not do it. I did not want to go back to the orphanage. Although I could use wandless magic and Dumbledore was at the school I still wanted to be at Hogwarts. It was not the same as the cottage but it was far better than any muggle orphanage."

Looking up Harry met the other wizard's gaze head on. "So you thought that it would be okay for you to take innocents' lives? What happened to you? I can understand that you did not want to go back to the orphanage, Merlin, those two times I was there, were more than enough for me. But that does not give you a reason to react the way you did. Damn it!" Harry did not even try to lower his voice and he saw Voldemort wince slightly at their closeness while he yelled at the other man.

Voldemort pinned him with a harsh glare and an unpleasant shiver ran down Harry's spine. This was the dark lord he knew. The wizard who had killed so many people and had managed to turn his life a hell from the day Harry's parents had been killed. But behind the anger he could also see a glint of Tom in the eyes and Harry felt a pang of longing. He wanted to go back to those days were it had just been him and Tom and where there had not been much else for them to worry about. "You are truly so innocent Evan, you do not understand what anger can do to people when they lose someone who was close to them."

When Voldemort tried to caress his chin Harry snapped after the hand which was removed out of reach. "So I do not know about what it means to lose someone? Honestly, Voldemort, are you really so stupid? I lost my parents, I saw Cedric be killed right in front of me. Sirius, my godfather whom I had only just gotten back died because of one of my mistakes." Breathing deeply Harry continued looking into Voldemort's eyes. "And I thought I had lost you. When I was killed again, I thought that I would never get to see you again. And when I found myself back in my own time, I knew that things were different. We have a story between us, Voldemort, a bad one. And it is not something which any of us will be able to forget about."

Harry closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "When I saw you in my second year you looked like you did back when we were together yet you were different. There was so much anger in you while you spoke to me in the chamber."

"You found the Chamber of Secrets in your second year, impressive?" Harry opened his eyes and let out a humourless laughter. "It was Hermione who figured it all out. All I did was to speak a few words in Parseltongue so Ron and I could enter together with Lockheart." Harry smiled grimly at the memory. "Because of an accident with a broken wand and a memory charm I ended up going the last part alone until I met you while you were tapping Ginny's life force. You called forth the basilisk, I fought it with the help of Fawkes, the Sorting Hat and the sword of Gryffindor. When it was dead and I was dying because of a bite from the snake you started a monologue."

"There are not many people which a phoenix is willing to cry for. I guess that is what happened."

Voldemort said while tracing the scar from the basilisk bite with one finger and Harry shivered lightly at the touch. "Another proof on how careless you can be. No Slytherin would have jumped head first into such a situation." Harry slapped Voldemort's hand away from his arm. "As if you were any better. Besides it was not me we were talking about but you. Why did you change your plans? You had so many ideas about how to change our world into a better one. What happened to them?"

They stared at each other and for a long time none of them spoke. Out of the corner of his eyes Harry saw it had started snowing again. If it continued like this even the Wizarding world would start having troubles. He did not even want to start thinking about how the muggles were doing right now. Harry was thankful that he had gotten done with Christmas shopping yesterday. Moreover, from the way Voldemort had talked he should be lucky if he ever got to leave the ground again, even if it was just to visit Mortimus.

"When I thought you were dead, I was angry. Angry at you for dying and leaving me alone. I needed to put the blame at someone. At the same time I was forced back at the orphanage and although I now had wandless magic it was no place for a magical child to stay. I remembered the muggle who had tried to kill you and the stories about your relatives and the anger grew. Dumbledore started talking about how muggles and wizards should live together in harmony and it only fuelled the fire inside me. And muggleborns are just as bad as the muggles. They come to our world and try to change it. Back in the old days it was seemed like a honour to have another being's blood mixed into the family's. It could be veela, vampire, elf, and so many other being which are being looked down on today. With them gone we would be able to go back to the way things were supposed to be. Besides, a big part of the muggleborns goes back to the muggleworld once they have finished school. This enlarges the risk of being found out by the muggles."

Taking a deep breath Harry interrupted Voldemort's speech. "And why do you believe it was necessary for you to use violence? The Tom I knew would have gone the political way and used Slytherin methods to get what he wanted. Hell, you had many of the pureblood heirs on your side already. It would have been easy for you to get people on your side. There was no reason for you to kill random people who had nothing to do with the whole thing to do." Harry was unable to keep the anger out of his voice and Voldemort stopped him from speaking more by gripping him hard around the chin. Only when Harry looked up and met the man's gaze did Voldemort let go of his chin. "You seem to forget something, Evan. We were all young at that time. Those who followed me were only heirs of their families. It took years before they got any real saying in politic. And at that time the war had already started. Besides, those who took the seat as the head of their families were not enough to go against Dumbledore. People adored him because he had saved them. To them Dumbledore could do nothing wrong. If he said things had to be done in a certain way then people did so."

Harry looked at Voldemort's chest, listening to every word the man spoke, and felt a clump form in his throat. He swallowed several times, not wanting to let his tears fall while he listened to what Voldemort told him. Harry had a feeling that the dark lord had not shared this with anyone before and knew that it was important. Somehow the thought both worried and warmed him that Voldemort had not told anyone about this before. While it showed that Voldemort trusted him Harry need it was not healthy to go around with so much anger inside one. "I began looking into the dark arts, searching for a way to bring your back, but no matter what I tried I met a dead end every time. It was also that way I found out about the hocruxes. Realising that I would never be able to bring you back, I could use necromancy, but not only would I need a body for that, which I did not have, but it would not be you but some useless doll, I decided to do something else. I wanted to honour you by changing the world, making it better so such a thing would never happen again. No child should try what it felt like to lose one they cared greatly about."

Voldemort took a deep breath, having talked himself warm. "I choose to use the name you gave me. It was my way of telling the world that what I did was because of you, although they would never find out about it. But no matter what I did the grief did not seem to lessen. I needed to blame it on someone and Dumbledore and his love for muggles and muggleborns were something I wanted to end. I had lost everything I had and the man should suffer the same fate as me." The man hesitated before adding. "I was sixteen when I created my first hocruxes." Harry shivered. He remembered all too well the memory of the Tom he had faced down in the Chamber of Secrets.

Taking a deep breath Harry tried to clear his head. For a long time he had wondered about what had made Tom turn into Voldemort, but until now there had been no answer. If he had not run of to defend the students and other people in Hogsmeade Dumbledore would never have gotten a chance to kill him. But the students, including Tom, would have been in danger. The thought of loosing Tom made his heart clench. But still he could have done things in another way. He should have gone with Tom into Hogwarts' safety but that would have meant that he would have left the rest to Grindelwald. No matter what it would have been screwed.

But it did not mean that it would be too late to change things. Harry was sure that more people would follow Voldemort if the man stopped killing random people. Perhaps it was time for Voldemort to change the way he did things. At least Harry hoped that it would be possible.

As if sensing where his thoughts were going Voldemort sighed. "There is no reason for you to beat yourself up because of it. If Grindelwald had not killed you then he would have gone after you on another time. Dumbledore must have somehow found out about his affection for you. That is the only way I can see how he should have been able to kill Grindelwald." This time it was Harry's turn to snort. "Let me guess, Dumbledore told people that he had killed Grindelwald? I admit I have not looked much into what happened on that day, I have been a little busy with more important things. But I was not killed by Grindelwald, it was the other way around and afterwards Dumbledore attacked me from behind and killed me, or at least he tried to. Instead I was sent back to the future."

Harry stopped rambling when Voldemort placed a finger on his lips. The air was tense with magic and Harry breathed deeply through his nose as if he could fill his lungs with it. "It makes sense. From what you told me, Dumbledore deified Grindelwald, he would rather kill someone than believe that Grindelwald was interested in someone else. But it just makes the urge to make him disappear grow."

Harry nodded and when Voldemort removed his finger Harry opened his mouth to speak. "He is actually rather hard to get rid of. When you think about it, it is what we both have been doing, although we have used different methods to try and reach our goals."

"Quite right you are, Evan." Voldemort mused out loud. "Although I fail to see what good your pranks would do against Dumbledore, the only things they do are to humiliate the man." Harry snorted and shook his head lightly. "It makes people understand that he is not a man who is perfect, that he is still human. Also, perhaps I would be able to make him so frustrated that he would make a slip of some kind. I am not sure what I hope for, but it is certainly better than torture, maim and kill people."

"Perhaps, but pranks alone would never be enough to defeat Dumbledore. Stronger means will have to be used if we want to get rid off of him."

Harry's face lit up in a familiar way to when he came up with a new prank. "How do you think people would react if they suddenly found out that Dumbledore did in fact not kill Grindelwald?" The grin on Voldemort's face sent shivers down Harry's spine. "It is an interesting idea. The light side would be dealt a great blow. Not all may believe it but they would start questioning themselves if Dumbledore really is the man they think he is." Harry nodded eagerly. "Yeah, and they would start asking themselves if they should really follow him. Although they might not join your side some will go neutral which means we will have less people to fight us. It will weaken Dumbledore's image no matter what."

"There is only one problem with this idea."

Harry tilted his head to the side, trying to figure out what Voldemort would say. "First we will have to get the truth out to the people. I believe the best way would be to let different people spread the words, rumours always work fast and it can be nearly impossible to track it back to the source if it is done correctly. When enough time has passed it should be printed in the news paper." Harry groaned and buried his head in the pillow. "This is going to take forever."

"Probably, but in a war some of the smallest and slowest attacks prove to be the most important ones when you plan on winning. Besides, I have a good idea to how I want to spend the waiting time." Voldemort said as he started placing butterfly soft kisses along Harry neck and jaw until the man reached his mouth.

**)00(**

Albus had a wonderful time. Sitting among red haired witches and wizards he knew he stood out. Not only was he the oldest in the group but he was also the only human being in the room which were not dressed in black. Albus truly detested that colour. It was boring and grave and reminded him of Potter's hair.

Munching on a lemon drop Albus looked around. The whole Weasley clan was assembled, even Percy had shown up. It seemed like losing two of the family members had done a good job with shaking the family together again. He noticed how Ronald Weasley kept sending him nervous glances from the other side of the boy's mother. The boy had acted like this ever since Albus had punished him for letting Potter escape. Later he would have to have a talk with the boy. It would not do for the child of some of his most fiery supporters act like he was scared of the old headmaster. It could end harming his case if he was not careful.

The goblin sneered, signalling that it was about to start the reading of the twins' will. Albus truly despised the goblins. They were impossible to bribe because they did not care about alliances. The only thing which mattered to them was gold. It was the reason to why it had been impossible for him to get into the Potter vault. The goblins knew that they would lose people's trust if they let someone else into a person's vault, which meant that the gold would be taken out of their vaults.

Instead he had to pay the human workers to keep an eye on Potter's vault; they would report directly to him if there was any activity. Unfortunately there was a limit to where the humans could go, even those who worked with the goblins. It did not help that Evan James' vault seemed to have disappeared from existence since the day Potter had been killed by him the first time in Hogsmeade.

The goblins were secretive and smart. They had seen what happened to other beings and creatures in their world and had made sure that they were too important to suffer the same fate. If the goblins stopped working at Gringotts it would take forever to organize all their work so humans could understand it.

Looking at the nameplate at the desk Albus realised that the goblin sitting on the other side of the desk was Ragnok, one of the most important ones in the Goblin hierarchy. How Fred and George Weasley had managed to make him read their will Albus could not figure out. Perhaps the twins had managed to save more money from their shop than he had thought they had. Albus' mask nearly slipped when he thought about what he could do with all this money but he replaced the mask quickly before anyone could realise his slip.

"We are assembled here today to read the will of Fred and George Weasley who have both deceased." The goblin said and rolled out the paper while holding the will so Albus could not read it. If not because he knew it could not be the case he would have thought that it had been done on purpose.

"We, Gred and Feorge Weasley, relative sound of mind and body, hereby starts our will. Since someone actually read this rubbish we guess it is because we have died. Hopefully we died a cool death, like experimenting with one of our new products or tickled to death, we always wanted to find out if that is possible or not. As long as it was not something as uncool as slipping on the bathroom's floor. Anyway, back to the will."

Albus leaned forward in the chair. This was what he had been waiting for. "To our family we leave them thirty five Galleons, as long as the money is used on our family and nothing else they can get them. To Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts and the leader of the flaming Chicken we leave nothing, nada, zero, nil, zilch and naught. Everything which is left will go to Evan James, who, together with the Marauders, was a big inspiration for us through our time as pranksters. See you soon. Wait, we are dead, so that is not possible. Anyway, bye."

As Ragnok closed the parchment the whole room sat in shocked silence. "After all what we have been put through by them that is what they leave us, thirty five Galleons!" Ronald Weasley face started turning red as he talked himself warm. "Bastards. How can they give everything they owned to some unknown idiot? There must have been a mistake. Someone must have cursed them. The will is not valid."

Albus stayed silent. He feared that if he opened his mouth he would end up saying something which he regretted. Somehow Harry Potter had managed to contact those blasted twins and even convince them that they should leave their every possession to the boy. But at least there was something which he could do about it.

"Evan James died when Grindelwald attacked Hogsmeade fifty years ago by Grindelwald himself before I managed to defeat the dark lord." The goblin looked more bored than it had before, as if it was not impressed by what he had done.

"But Mr. James is very much alive."

"Impossible, I saw him die!" Of course Harry Potter was alive, but Evan James had been declared dead and there was no way that the brat could prove that he was also Evan James. Therefore this goblin had no reason to believe that the ward maker was not dead. "Funny, considering I saw him as late as yesterday and he looked rather well for someone who was supposed to have been dead for over fifty years."

"It screams of necromancy!" He could not the word get out that Evan James was still alive. Potter had been one of the known victims in the Hogsmeade attack because of his connection with the Malfoy family.

"Mr. Dumbledore. We at Gringotts pride ourselves of being able to see the difference between our living and dead customers. And I have to say that Mr. James looked to be in good health."

Albus bit his tongue hard to stop himself from saying more which would only end in him digging his grave deeper. From the glances most of the Weasley family was giving him he knew that he would have to step carefully around the family from now on. Although they were some of his most loyal supporters Albus knew that he could only do so many mistakes before people stopped trusting him. He would have to make sure that the knowledge of Evan James being alive did not spread further than the people in this room. It would only damage his reputation more than it already had been and he would not stand that.

At least he knew that Potter would not continue being a problem. The boy truly believed that the prophecy was real. If he just leaned back and watched Potter and Riddle would end up killing each other. But he did not want to wait for so long and there was always the risk that someone would find out the truth, something which he was not willing to watch happen. To get his revenge over Gellert's death he would make sure they both died; if they killed each other it would only be good.

Humming under his breath Albus was the first one who left the goblin's office. Now where he knew there was nothing for him there he had no wish about staying there longer than necessary.

**)00(**

"Duck Harry!" Following George's order Harry threw himself to the snow covered ground as he felt something fly over his head. Cleaning his face from snow Harry looked over at the opponents' side of the field. The green clad Slytherins were quite easy to spot against the white background but Harry guessed that the same thing could be said about him and the twins. Although the three of them were dressed in white winter robes their hair colours made them stand out like living targets.

A hand grabbed his arm and Harry was dragged to his feet. Turning his head he was met with the sight of a freckled face surrounded by red hair. "Carefully Harry. We do not want to get Voldie to get worried." George only let go of his arm when Harry nodded.

It had taken an awful long time to make Voldemort let him go outside. Since the day where they had talked Voldemort had not let him leave the man's side a single moment. The man had even followed with him into the bathroom. It was like when he first arrived to the manor all over. The only difference was that instead of a herd of guard dogs he now only had one. Voldemort had not been happy when he had used that term about him.

Grinning Harry dodged a snowball before he sent one back to Blaise who had been the one to throw one at him. Although he did not hit it was still amusing to see how Pansy dragged the other boy to the ground, with him under her, to avoid getting her robes dirtied. Originally it had been he and the twins who had wandered outside. Voldemort had left him in the twins' care before leaving the manor without a word about what he had planned or where he went. The Slytherins had come out in the middle of their snowball fight. All it had taken to make them join the fight was a snowball hitting Draco square in the face.

Harry watched the opposite group with clear amusement. Crabbe and Goyle were jumping around to follow Draco's orders, meanwhile the blonde had transformed a throne like chair for him to sit on out of the snow. Pansy was using Blaise as a living shield and every time she was being in danger of being hit by a snowball she practically dragged the boy to the ground with her by his scarf.

Something cold hit him in the back of his neck and Harry felt small rivers of ice cold water run down his neck, making Harry let out a yelp in surprise. Turning around he glared at the twins who wore matching grins. "Sorry Harry."

"But you were standing in the trajectory. There was nothing which we could do about it." Scooping up some snow Harry answered their grins with one of his owns. "You do know that you are going to regret this."

"And what, little Harrikins, do you think you can do against the two of us?" Without a falter Harry stepped towards the twins. "I have yet to decide about what to do with the two of you but I know that I have more than plenty of people who will help me with reaching a decision."

The twins' eyes widened when they looked around and saw that while Harry had been talking the Slytherins had been sneaking up on them so they now were surrounded. The twins hugged each other and turned their attention back to him. "How could you do it, Harry? We thought you loved us."

"And yet you betrayed us. Our friend."

"Our brother."

"And our only true love."

Fred and George threw themselves at him. Harry stood as stunned when the twins kissed him at each cheek, unsure of what he was supposed to do. Although he knew that they were joking it still warmed his heart that the twins liked him so much. At least there were some of his friends whom did not hate him because of some lies an old goat had been spreading about him.

"You have exactly two seconds to let go off him before I remove your hands from your bodies, permanently!" The sudden loss of the twins' bodies by his side made Harry stagger and fall in the snow. He was now staring up at the sky and watched as his breath formed small white clouds before disappearing from view.

Someone moved through the snow towards him, without even looking in their direction Harry knew that it was neither the twins nor the Slytherins he had been playing with. Voldemort's face came into view and Harry gave him a smile before he took the hand offered to him and let Voldemort help him to his feet. Harry let the dark lord dust the snow off of him without any protest. Unlike the others he was not having any warming charms on his person and it was easier getting cold whenever you were covered by snow.

"Evan, I thought you said you preferred blondes to red hair." Somewhere to his left Harry heard someone choke. By the sound of it he would say it was Draco but he was not sure about it. Grinning he leaned his head back so he could look up at Voldemort. "While I admit to have said that I have to confess those dark haired wizards are my absolute favourites. He saw the possessive glint in Voldemort's red eyes and stepped a little closer to the man. "And there is only one dark haired wizard who ever has and ever will be able to catch my attention."

"That is good to know. Now come inside, Severus has informed me that you have yet to take your potion today."

Voldemort moved to drag him with him back to the manor but stopped when he saw Harry's grin. Using the man's hesitating Harry moved, the snow he had scooped up before when he had laid on the ground had been formed to a small snowball. Before Voldemort could do anything to stop him Harry took a step back and threw his snowball. The white ball hit Voldemort square in the chest and scattered.

Laughing Harry turned around and took off. Despite the many layers of clothes he was wearing Harry moved fairly quickly through the thigh high snow. Behind him he heard someone set after him but it sounded like two persons instead of just one. Harry grinned and continued moving. This reminded him of the snowball fight he had with Abraxas and Tom one winter. This time there was no risk that a fit would destroy his good time.

Looking back Harry saw that it was the twins who were chasing him.

His chasers' legs were longer than him and Harry knew that they were not wearing as much clothing as him. As he ran Harry heard them come closer fast and surely. He had no idea about what the Slytherins were doing, and right now he was a little too busy to check upon them, but he doubted very much that they would help him in this. He was running from an evil fate and had no intention about getting caught any time soon.

Harry turned abruptly around and ran in between the twins and back the way they came from. He felt their fingers brush against his back but they closed around empty air as Harry threw himself to the side and continued running. Voldemort was standing alone on the field and Harry frowned in confusing when he noticed that none of the Slytherins were to be seen. A small voice in the back of his head warned him that something had to be wrong.

Harry let his legs move faster under him as he moved past a big pile of snow he did not recognise seeing before. As Harry moved past it the pile he saw it change into the before missing Slytherins and faltered in surprise. This proved to be enough for Blaise to be able to grab him. Harry was thrown over the Italian's shoulder and he got the air knocked out of his lungs.

The black haired wizard fought to start breathing normally while Blaise carried him over to where Harry guessed Voldemort was waiting for them. At the moment he found it a little hand to see anything else than Blaise's back, but when he turned his head to either sides he saw Draco and Pansy walked along, both wearing a knowing smile.

Draco stepped closer until he was nearly walking on Blaise. "So, you did not tell me about you liking blondes. Do I have a reason to feel nervous?" Harry grinned as he looked Draco directly in the eyes. "Why Draco, do not tell me that you are interested? Sorry to tell you, but I am not interested, I already have someone I am together with." Harry did not even try to hold back his laughter at Draco's shocked expression and his voice was joined by Blaise and Pansy's. Crabbe and Goyle just grunted non commentary, not looking sure if they should laugh or beat up someone.

"My lord." Blaise said and tried to bow. Harry yelled and tried to grab something. Instead he felt himself fall and landed on the back on the ground for the second time in a very short while. "You know, I am started to get tired of this, is this some new ritual that I have not heard about before?" He received no answer and sighed. "Fine I give up, where is it Snape is?"

Harry let Blaise help him to his feet but stepped away before the other boy could do anymore. "I am fine on my own so stop treating me like some lady in need." He turned around to face Voldemort and sighed when he saw that every trace of the snowball he had thrown was gone. Although he wanted to throw another snowball Harry doubted that it was something he would survive. There were only so many things which Voldemort would accept he did without consequences. Things had been so much easier when Tom had been younger and accepted Harry as the grown up of the two of them, at least in most situations.

"Get on moving, the rest of you can get on with whatever you were doing, just do not destroy anything." Voldemort placed a hand on his shoulder and lead Harry on the way back to the manor. Harry looked back over his shoulder to see that the others were following them, although they were keeping their distance. It seemed like what had made them loosen up had disappeared with the dark lord's arrival. Harry sighed and shook his head. He would have to teach them how to relax and that Voldemort was not as dangerous as many people believed.

Snape was waiting for them inside the manor, dressed in his usually black robes. The man's hair was still wet after his bath but it still looked as greasy as ever. Harry thought about suggesting him to change his shampoo but thought better of it when he saw the vial in the man's hand. As long as Snape was giving him potions, no matter how little he liked or wanted them, it was best not to make the man too mad at him.

The prank he had played on Snape and the two Malfoys had finally stopped working a little week ago. But it did not mean that Snape and Lucius had stopped glaring suspicious at him whenever he came a little too close for their liking.

Without a word Harry accepted the potion from Snape and gulped it down without a second thought. As soon as he had swallowed the last drop he stumbled and it was only Voldemort's grip on his arm which stopped him from falling. Harry guessed the man had taken hold on him when he had taken the potion from Snape.

"No matter how many times I drink this potion it tastes awful."

"Then it will probably please you to know that this was the last time that you will have to take this potion." Snape drawled and Harry's face lit up in a grin at the news. "Really? Cool."

"But you will have to wait another twenty four hours before you use your magic and then I will be there to make sure that there really is no after effect. And even then I would like for someone to keep an eye on you until we are sure that you really are cured."

Harry grimaced and stepped away from Voldemort. The dark lord let go of him, but Harry knew that the man was watching him in case he should lose his balance or something like that. It had happened a few times just after he had taken one of Snape's potions. The potion master said it was a natural reaction and so there was nothing they could do about it.

"I will have to tell this to the twins." Harry turned around and ran outside where Fred and George and the Slytherins still were. There was a lot of things which needed to be planned, especially now where he knew that he would be able to use his magic again.

**)00(**

For once Voldemort had every intention of sleeping long. He had made sure to have the whole day free which meant there was no reason for him to get up from his bed. There were some good things about being the dark lord.

Voldemort reached out for where he knew Evan was supposed to be. He frowned when his hand reached nothing else but empty place. The spot where Evan was supposed to be was already cold which meant that his lover had already gotten up.

The dark lord let out a sigh. Although he wanted to trust his lover his manor was no safe place to be. When one was not counting his allies and followers there were still the dark objects he had around the manor. And Evan had a strange ability to stick his nose into places where it did not belong. If not because he feared what would happen he would sent Evan to Dumbledore. He was sure that his lover would be able to drive the old goat mad in a matter of days if not only hours.

Opening his eyes Voldemort was not met with the usual view of green which coloured his bedroom. Instead colourful Christmas decoration hung on every inch of the walls. Hearts and others things he had not seen since he had celebrated Christmas with Evan now filled the room.

A feeling of dread filled Voldemort as he realised that if Evan could do this to his room while he was asleep, what could his lover could have done to the rest of the manor if no one had stopped him yet.

Slowly Voldemort sat up and pushed the covers aside. Getting out of the bed and halfway to the bathroom a white piece of paper hanging on the door caught his attention. Changing course he went over to the door. There were only two who could have done this and since Nagini had no hands and knew better than to touch any of his things without first making sure that it was not dangerous, he guessed it was actually only one who could have done it.

Freeing the knife Voldemort was not surprised to see that the hole closed itself as soon as he removed the knife. Voldemort unhurriedly turned the knife in his hand. It was a beautiful weapon and one of the few things in the manor which was entirely muggle. In accident time it had been used in rituals for the bloodthirsty gods which people believed in then. But he doubted that Evan knew this and was just thankful that his lover had not picked one of the cursed objects which he still had around the manor.

Evan had a strange ability to get involved in things where he had nothing to do. And more often than not he ended getting hurt in one way or another.

_Voldie_

_You seemed like you needed the sleep so I decided to not to wake you when I got up. So how do you like the room? I thought that since it is Christmas the whole place needed some decoration, to lift the mood a little. Anyway, I will continue with the rest of the manor. When you are dressed then come and meet me in the living room at the Malfoy manor._

There was no sender but Voldemort did not need one to know who had written the letter. He could recognise Evan's scrabbles wherever he saw it. He frowned, tried to think why Evan would want him to meet at the Malfoy manor. At least he knew that his lover would not be there unless someone had escorted him. It was the only way for his lover to leave the manor, but perhaps he should change that. There was a risk of Evan being taken away without his consent, something which he would not risk happening.

Hurriedly he dressed himself in dark blue, nearly black robes. No one else than Severus wore black robes when they had other possibilities. When he once had talked with Severus about this the potion master had told that stains from the potions he worked on and the ingredients were less likely to be seen if he only wore black. After that Voldemort had only leaned back and watched amused as Lucius and Narcissa continued trying to make their third lover change into something else than black, something which he knew would never happen.

When he finally was respectable Voldemort gave himself a last look in the mirror before he headed to the fireplace. Nagini was nowhere to be seen, but perhaps she would be found the same place as Evan was.

Stepping out of the green flames Voldemort found himself in the Malfoy manor's entrance hall, where he had been so many times before. Like it had been the case with his own chambers, and probably also other parts of his manor, since he did not know for how long Evan had been up, Malfoy manor was decorated. Muggle and wizard decorating hang side by side and Voldemort did not even bother with trying to hide his smirk. He did have to try to know that his lover would have done something to make sure that the decorations would not be moved before he deemed that it should be.

"If you are looking for Evan and the so called relatives of mine I will suggest you hurry up and go to the living room in the east wing. Last time I heard from the houseelves they were talking about fire whiskey." Voldemort nodded to the portrait of Mortimus before he quickly walked in the direction of the east wing. If not for the portrait he could have been walking around for a long time, not knowing where he should look for his lovers and the others. Of course Evan would forget to mention which living room they could be found in.

As he walked Voldemort was drawn to the sound of laughter and loud voices, and atypical sound in the manor, at least this early in the morning. On the other hand it was Christmas morning which meant that they would be opening gifts.

Outside the door Voldemort suddenly hesitated. It had been a long time since he had celebrated Christmas, not since Evan had been killed had he seen any reason to celebrate the day, and before Evan had come into his life there had never been anyone for him to celebrate it with. It had been his and Evan's day. They would sleep in that day, give each other gifts and just enjoy being close.

Before he could decide whether or not he would go in the decision was made for him. The door was thrown open, luckily it went into the room or he would have been hit, and Evan came in view. The boy's green eyes widened when he saw him and a smile blossomed on his face. "You finally came. I was beginning to wonder if I would have to go after you. Honestly, the day that you decide to sleep in on is the day that you are supposed to get up early."

While he talked Evan grabbed his hand and dragged him inside with him, closing the door behind them loudly. Looking around Voldemort found that the whole Malfoy family was assembled; Severus was seated together with his two lovers. Draco sat next to the twins, eyeing them warily which told Voldemort that the twins had pulled at least one prank on the blonde already this morning.

The room was decorated in a similar manner to the rest of the manor. What caught his eye was the Christmas tree standing in the middle of the room. It was no surprise that the tree was big. To the Malfoys only the best was good enough and a big tree also symbolized their wealth although there was no one there for them to impress.

Under the tree gifts of different sizes and forms and in different colours were stacked. This was a part he had never really done with Evan. Yes, there had been a decorated tree in the cottage, but they had not had their gifts under it. Voldemort had made sure that what he had for Evan was near his person. His lover was like a child; if the gifts were left in the open Voldemort did not doubt that his lover would try to figure out what it could be.

Voldemort found himself pushed down in a chair by his lover who turned away to head over to the other boys in the room. Before Evan was out of reach Voldemort grabbed his lover's wrist and dragged him down so he sat across his lap. Evan let out a squeak and fought shortly to get up again. Voldemort just tightened the grip until Evan finally gave up with a huff and crossed his arms.

"And why is it that we are here?" He asked, wanting to get some answers. He had planned on enjoying the morning together with his lover, not getting out of bed before it was necessary. "Fred and George thought that it would be good for us to celebrate Christmas together." Evan was interrupted by the twins who stood from their seats in one move. "We thought that it would be more fun to be together."

"Since we are already living with the Malfoys, we thought that it would be good to have you over here also. So Harry here agreed on going with us, but since you seemed to sleep so well we would have to wait until we could begin."

Voldemort looked at the twins, silently ordering them to continue, since that did not happen he turned his attention back to his lover who was staring up at the tree with big eyes. Or, if Voldemort was not wrong, it seemed like Evan's attention was at the gifts under the tree.

A small child indeed.

**)00(**

Voldemort found that spending Christmas day with so many people was enjoyable, unlike what he had thought. Until now he had seen it as a time for couples. But sharing the Christmas day with more people was something he could learn to like, as long as it was only one day in the year.

He sat in the big armchair, watching people around him in silence. Lucius, Narcissa and Severus sat near him, discussing silently together as not to disturb him. The wrapping from the gifts had been removed by a houseelf as soon as it hit the floor.

In his hand he held the gifts from Evan. It was small made of silver and simple looking but it did not mean less to him. Voldemort had seen those rings before. They were worn by couples in purebloods families. He recognised this as one of those Walburga and Orion had been wearing. He would have to ask his lover about how he had managed to get his hands on the Black family's promising rings. Usually no one else than the heir of the family would be able to use those.

The ring had the Black family's chest on it, shoving that it belonged to the head branch of the family. It was given when one was introduced to the family as a new member through marriage. He was not sure if Evan knew what the ring meant, but he would keep his lover to this unspoken promise no matter what. This was another way to make sure that Evan would stay with him forever.

Voldemort looked over at his lover, who was sitting together with Draco and the Weasley boys. He had noticed the glances his lover was giving him. As the only one Evan had yet to get the gift from him. But it seemed like it was bothering his lover far more than Voldemort had thought it would. Perhaps it was time for him to change that before Evan draw some conclusion on his own.

Standing from the chair Voldemort walked over to the small group which seemed engrossed in a game going on between one of the twins and Draco. The other twin and Evan sat close together and if not because of what Evan had told him of the brotherly feelings he had towards the twins Voldemort knew that he would have been jealous of the red haired boy.

"Evan, come with me." His lover looked up from the game he had been watching and met his gaze. Voldemort saw the question dancing in the black haired wizard's eyes but said nothing more. What he planned on giving Evan was not something he wanted to share with the others. If Evan wanted them to know he would tell them about it afterwards. Until then Voldemort would keep his mouth closed.

"Will it take long?" Voldemort just raised an eyebrow, not bothering with answering the question. As if reading his thoughts Evan sighed and got up from his spot on the floor. "I will talk to you guys later."

Voldemort walked out of the room, he did not have to look behind him to know that Evan was following with him.

When they had walked an appropriate distance, and Voldemort was sure that no one was around them to hear him he finally turned around to face Evan. His lover was watching him carefully with a frown, obviously trying to figure out what was happening.

Voldemort smirked and stepped closer to Evan. "I am sure that you have noticed that you have yet to receive your gift from me." Slowly Evan nodded while his eyes jumped from one spot to another, searching for the gift he knew was there for him.

He drew his lover in for a brief kiss, stealing the breath away from Evan and when he let the other wizard go Voldemort watched Evan stand unsteadily on his feet. "I thought long and hard for what to give you, before I finally came up with something which I am sure that you will like." From the depth of his robes Voldemort took forth a white handkerchief.

Evan tilted his head to the side, frowning while he accepted the handkerchief. "Thanks." Voldemort smirked at his lover's attempt on hiding the disappointment. "Evan, when do you learn that the gifts I give you are not what they look like?" When his lover lifted his head to meet his gaze Voldemort stepped back. "I will see you in three days."

When the portkey whisked Evan away Voldemort headed back to the living room. He was sure that he would be bombarded with questions about Evan's whereabouts. But his lover could answer it when he once returned, if he felt like doing so. Until then Voldemort's lips would be closed.

**So where has Voldemort sent Evan? I am sorry to cut the chapter here but I wanted to post this and it was taking forever to write. **

**Help me get the ice cream. REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. I want ice cream, so I need this story to round the 900****th**** review before Friday next week since it is the last day which the shop is open. **

**Also I am looking for a story, and since it worked so well last time, I decided to ask again.**

**It is a HP/Twilight crossover, where Harry has cancer and is friends with the wolves from la Push. The vampires comes back and Harry tries to hide his sickness from them while Edward tries to take up the relationship with Harry again.**

**I hope that someone will be able to help me with finding this story. **


	20. Chapter 20

**Thanks for the many reviews, now Mortimus is owes me an ice cream. We are going this weekend, I am sooooo happy. I cannot say how surprised that when I woke up the next morning, I had 54 reviews waiting for me. Actually I went to bed again, believing that it was a dream. Apparently that was not the case.**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill, I do not own Harry Potter yada, yada, yada.**

**Beta: ****angelhitomie **

**Warning: Torture and character death. **

Harry landed in a snow pile with a curse ready on his lips. Of all the things which could have happened he had not expected Voldemort to hand him a bloody portkey. No matter how many times he tried it, and the tours could be counted on one hand, he would never learn to like it. It still made him remember the portkey back in his fourth year which had brought him and Cedric to the graveyard.

Stumbling to his feet Harry turned around himself, trying to figure out where he was. Despite it being in the early day he had no idea about where he was. All he could see were trees, snow covering everything and, do look, more trees. Harry snorted in amusement. He trusted Voldemort enough to know that the dark lord would not send him anywhere dangerous. But a portkey could have been fixed to send one to another direction or simple have been malfunctioning.

Knowing that there was nothing he could do about his current situation Harry settled down on waiting for something to happen. At least he knew he would be able to defend himself should something happen. It was a small consolation but Harry was willing to take what little he could get.

He rubbed his arms, taking comfort in the motion, although it did not bring him much warmth. Since he had expected to spend the day inside Harry had not had a chance to prepare himself for the harsh cold. His robes were too thin to wear outside and be comfortable, especially while at winter. It felt like the wind went right through his clothes and he shivered.

Shivering Harry leaned against a tree. This way at least his back was protected in case that something happened. He felt magic rush under his skin, ready to be released if something should happen and he should need it.

A big hand clamped down on his shoulder and Harry flinched while letting out what he later would call a manly squeal. Without a second thought Harry let go of the grip he had on his magic and blasted the person away from him. Hearing the person hit the ground, from the sound of it the person was big and male, but how the man had been able to sneak upon him, Harry did not know. Slowly he turned around to face his attacker.

Seeing Fenrir Greyback lying on the ground with a confused look on his face Harry could not help but start laughing at the comic look in front of him. He was well aware of how hard it was to surprise werewolves, with their super senses and all that and knew that it was more luck than skill which was the reason to why Greyback was on the ground right now.

Harry's laughter died when Greyback got on his feet. The werewolf moved slowly and kept his hand where Harry could see them, as if he was handling some scared animal. Harry's body tensed when Greyback stood in his full height. The last time he had seen the man was in Remus' house, and at that time he had been a little too busy to pay attention to how big the werewolf actually was.

His eyes did not leave Greyback's form even a single moment. Harry knew enough about werewolves to know that even in their human forms they were hard to fight against. Especially if one aimed to win the fight.

"If I had known you were going to fight like this I would never have agreed with Voldemort on letting you come here without making him tell you what was going to happen." Scowling Harry leaned his head back to glare as the werewolf stepped closer. Someone had mentioned that Greyback was one of Voldemort's allies, which meant that the man was safe enough for him to be together with. "I think you would react similar to me if you suddenly found yourself freezing your arse off in a forest." Unimpressed the werewolf raised an eyebrow. "Are you a wizard or not? For one who goes for being the dark lord's equal you are not that bright."

Sucking in a breath Harry used a warming charm on himself, silently berating himself for not thinking of this before. He excused it with the reason that he still had to get used to the fact that he could use his magic freely.

The two of them watched each others from afar. Seeing how Greyback was built Harry swore not to get into a fight with the other male. It looked like Greyback would be able to snap his back with only two fingers. Harry raised an eyebrow at Greyback's clothes, or rather lack of this. The silver haired man was wearing muggle pants and nothing else, not even shoes. How the man could stand the cold Harry had absolutely no idea about. Harry was still shivering despite the charm he had used on himself.

"Are you coming, pup?"When Greyback took a step towards him Harry automatic took one back while hissing at the man. "Stay away from me, or you are going to regret it." Indifferent Greyback continued his way over to him while Harry walked backwards. "If you would just relax a little, pup, then we can go on. There is someone who wants to meet with you."When Harry made no move to follow with the man Greyback rolled his eyes. "If you are going to act like a pup then you will be threaded like one."

Before Harry had time to react Greyback had already moved. A big hand closed around his neck and lifted Harry so his feet were no longer touching the ground under him. "Now, be nice. As I said we are going to meet a friend." Narrowing his eyes Harry glared at Greyback as the werewolf carried him into what Harry guessed was the deeper part of the forest. "I can walk just fine on my own."

"Maybe, but you will make too much noise and this way we will arrive faster. Now shut your mouth and keep silent before you destroy the surprise."

Grumbling Harry closed his mouth but did not stop glaring the best he could at the werewolf. Truth to be told he wanted to know what was happening. And he guessed that the best way of doing so was to just go on with whatever happened.

They moved in silence for what seemed like forever to Harry. Or rather Greyback walked while Harry just hung in the air. It was a wonder that Greyback was not getting tired of carrying him like this. On the other hand this man had a werewolf's strength, Harry was sure that Greyback had lifted much heavier things than him and carried them around as if they weighted nothing.

"Where are you taking me?"

"The dark lord thought that this would be a fitting gift and it does help me." Harry frowned while thinking over the werewolf's words, which had not even answered his question. "Where is Remus? If you have hurt him I am going to make sure that what I did to you before will seems like nothing once I am finished with you."

A loud growl filled the air and Harry's body tensed. It was only a few days ago that the moon had been full and he guessed that the wolf was still close to the surface. "Be careful, pup. Although I will not kill you there is nothing which stops me from punishing you if you do not show proper respect."

They travelled in silence. Harry crossed his arms and ignored the man carrying him. Instead he looked around, trying to figure out where they were heading. It did not help him that he had never been in the forest before and Greyback moved too fast for him to get a good look at anything.

Harry was worried about Remus. Other than that his father's friend had been kidnapped by Greyback he knew next to nothing about what he happened to the man. For all he knew Remus could have been tortured until he was close to death. But Voldemort had said that Remus was Greyback's mate. Harry guessed it meant that the man would not hurt Remus and especially not kill him. But Harry would have felt much better if he had a chance to see it himself.

Suddenly Harry was dropped to the ground and he landed on unsteady feet. Greyback took a moment to make sure that he would not fall before stepping away from him.

Harry breathed deeply, while trying to figure out what was going on. They were standing at the edge of a clearing where nothing special was to see. Only the snow covered ground. It was first when Harry concentrated that he felt the magic hum in the air, indicating that he was standing in front of a weak but well hidden ward.

"Smart, by using weaker wards you make it so most would pass this place without noticing the magic even if they were trained to do so. One would have to concentrate to be able to find this place and even then they would usually dismiss it because so little magic is needed for the ward that it could have been a part of the nature."

A big hand landed on his shoulder and again Harry let go off the grip he had on his magic instinctively. He winced when he heard the werewolf grunt but at least Greyback did not fly this time. "You might be careful pup, one time is an accident, and two times can be excused. But if you do that again I might start thinking that you are planning on getting rid of me."

Harry did not comment on it but kept still when Greyback walked over to him. "You cannot pass through the ward without having someone from the pack with you. The same thing goes for when a guest wants to leave." Harry huffed and crossed his arms. "Are you going to let me in or what?" The werewolf snorted lowly. "Be careful. Here you are alone and if you cross the wrong person there will be no one to save you."

Sighing Harry ran a hand through his hair before he nodded. "Fine, I will go with you. It is not like I have any idea of where I am so it is not like I have another choice."

"You have spunk, pup. I can see why Remus likes you." Harry peaked up at Greyback's words. "Where is Remus, how is he doing? I swear if you have touched as much as a hair on his head you are."

"How about we go in so you can take a look yourself?"

Before Harry could come up with an answer Greyback had already placed a hand on the middle of his back and pushed him forward. He stumbled over his feet but luckily managed to stop himself from falling.

When Harry passed through the ward the scenery changed. Gone was the peaceful clearing with a snow covered ground. Instead Harry found himself staring at a well hidden village. If he had passed through the ward without having an idea about what was going to happen he would probably have been able to overlook the small huts which seemed to be a part of the nature, if not for the people there.

From what Harry could see Greyback's pack was by no means a big pack. But with the way the ministry seemed to hunt down werewolves, and other creatures which they deemed dangerous, he supposed he should be impressed. Harry guessed that there were roughly thirty to fifty people in the village, pack, or whatever it was supposed to be called. From where he stood Harry could count twenty people, with some moving before he could include them in this, and Harry had a feeling that there was more than he was able to see.

Feeling people look at him Harry felt the blood rush to his face. The way they stared at him reminded him of his time at Hogwarts. Their stares were mostly hostile but Harry guessed he could understand that. The life of a werewolf was by no means an easy one and it was easy to become wary of strangers since everyone could be a danger to their pack.

The people he could see had quite a bit of an age difference. The youngest he saw was a mere toddler while a woman, old with age, glared at him from afar. The honey coloured eyes were a clear proof that those people indeed were werewolves. Not that he had doubted it but now he at least had a sure proof of it.

The huts were clearly made by hand, perhaps a little magic had been used here and there but it had not been much. It was the most effective way of hiding from the Aurors who surely were searching for Greyback and his wanted pack.

Loud laughter drew Harry's attention to the middle of the small village. When he saw familiar honey coloured hair Harry's eyes widened and without listening to Greyback's protests he strode over to the small group of children of different ages that were surrounding the male. While he walked Harry took in Remus' appearance. The werewolf looked much healthier than Harry could ever remember seeing him before. Not only that but Remus looked happy and was laughing at something one of the children had told him. Instead of robes the man was wearing a simple blue t-shirt and a pair of trousers. It did not seem like the cold was bothering him the slightest bit.

Before he got close enough to jump at the werewolf Remus' had snapped up and the werewolf was staring straight at him. Harry stopped in the middle of his tracks, suddenly unsure of what he should do. He had not seen Remus since the attack at the man's house where they had been forced apart.

It was Remus who made the decision. The man got on his feet, calmed the children surrounding him down with a smile and strode over to him without letting go of Harry with his eyes. A step away from him Remus stepped and let amber eyes travel up and down Harry's body with a disbelieving look in his face. "Pup?"

Harry's breath hitched when he heard Remus' old nickname for him. It had been to long since anyone had called him that. Greyback did not count since Harry did not have any connection to the werewolf, and Harry had still no idea why the other werewolf called him that.

"Pup." Harry found himself swept up in a bone crushing hug and his feet were no longer able to touch the ground. Harry's first reaction was to release his magic as he had done with Greyback but he bit the urge back. Not only did Harry have a feeling that he would not get out of this alive if he harmed the werewolf but this was Remus. He had been a friend of Harry's father and had hidden Harry himself when he had had no place to be. Harry knew that Remus would rather die than lie a hand on him.

Harry returned the hug and buried his face in Remus' neck to hide his tears from view. The last time he had seen the werewolf, Remus had been unconscious and bleeding. Seeing him alive and well was better than hearing it from anyone else.

Finally Remus placed Harry down on the ground and for a while the two of them stared at each other without saying a single word. "Pup, what are you doing here?" Harry raised an eyebrow, not overlooking the fact that Remus had yet to say his name. He guessed that there was a good reason for this and hopefully Remus would soon share it with him. "I thought that you would be happy to see me. But truth to be told, I have no idea of what I am doing here. Voldemort just stuck me a portkey and then I went from Malfoy manor to this forest where Greyback found me."

Both turned to face Greyback who had come over to them while Harry and Remus had greeted each other. Harry placed himself so he was standing between the two werewolves. It bothered him to see that both men were taller than him. Sighing Harry guessed it was something he just had to accept.

Clearly amused Greyback snorted. "You are brave, pup, that much I will give you. But you have no reason to think that you have to protect Remus. He wants to be here." Looking over his shoulder Harry saw Remus' affirmative nod and relaxed. "So, anyone mind telling me what I am doing here" Harry looked pointedly at Greyback. Obviously Remus had known nothing about his arrival. "The dark lord and I thought that it would be good for both of you to get pup out here for a few days. Think of it as a Christmas gift for you two."

Harry blinked in surprised. It had nothing to do with the tears which treaded to fall. Absolutely not. If anyone asked he would blame it on the cold he felt.

To his surprise Remus stepped around him and placed a soft kiss on the other werewolf's cheek. The children cheered and did not seem to be bothered by the look Greyback gave them. But there was not heat in the glare so Harry could not really say that he was surprised.

Harry tilted his head to the side. "I believe that I am missing some vital information. This makes absolutely no sense to me." Remus placed a hand on Harry's arm and started leading the boy away from the group. "I will show you where we are staying pup, and I will tell you what happened. Then you will tell me what happened to you since the last time I saw you. Hearing things second hand is not as satisfying as having you to tell me."

Abandoning Greyback to the children, who seemed to be more than happy that they got to spend time with their alpha, Harry and Remus walked away. None of them responded to the glare Greyback sent in their direction. It was more than clear that the werewolf was not happy about being left like this.

"In werewolf society werewolves have a mate, often it is another werewolf. If that is not the case the werewolf will turn their mate, either by accident or by choice."

"And you are Greyback's mate, I already knew that." Remus was silent for a few minutes before he nodded. "I knew Fenrir before I went to Hogwarts." Harry peaked up, this was new knowledge to him and he did not intend to miss a single piece of information. "We grew up as friends, although my parents knew nothing about it. If they had they would probably have stopped me from seeing him. But as it was Fenrir was my best friend in my childhood. We met in the forest and he showed me how to survive in the wild."

A sad look darkened the werewolf's face. "It all changed when I got my letter to Hogwarts. I showed it to Fenrir and he seemed angry, he called me a traitor and many other words. But then he calmed down, telling me that he would show me a secret of his if I would just show up in the forest the next night. At that time Fenrir was my best friend, and I did not want to lose him. Therefore I met up as he had told me, and I did not tell my parents about the meeting." Harry watched as Remus' faced darkened as the man continued his story. "That night it was full moon and right before my eyes I saw my best friend transform into a, what I believed at that time, monster. Fenrir bit me, but before anything else could happen my parents interrupted, forcing him to flee, my scream had called them from the house. Afterwards we were visited by Dumbledore, and by promising that I would tell no one about me being a werewolf I would still be allowed to attend Hogwarts. My parents and I were overjoyed and I did not see Fenrir again before several years had passed." They walked in silence before Remus started talking again.

"I had a lot of prejudices about how it would be to live in a pack. Since I was turned I had no real contact to werewolves. Although I had visited other packs to convince them to join Dumbledore's side of the war, I never stayed long enough to get a good impression of how it would be to live with a pack, to be a part of something bigger."

"Be careful Remus, the next thing we know is that you walk around in awful robes and traumatises small children by offering them lemon drops at random times claiming that you do it for everyone's good."

Remus looked truly horrified at his words and Harry chuckled lowly. He had forgotten how fun it could be to speak with the werewolf. Not that it was an easy task. Most of the time Remus was too calm headed to be shocked by anything. This had not been one of those times. "Promise me, pup, that you will never say such a thing again." Harry nodded, while making a note to ask Remus of why neither he nor Greyback were calling him by his name. But Harry guessed that it would have to wait for a time where they had a little more privacy than it was the case right now.

"When I woke up here the first time I wanted to leave and search for you. I was told that you had disappeared from Malfoy manor and that the dark lord knew about your second identity." Harry tried to swallow but found his throat dry. He could easily imagine how Remus must have felt at that time.

"Fenrir showed me, that I was never alone, and he kept getting me as much information about you as he could. Life here is rather pleasant. Although the Wizarding world does not accept werewolves, so we need to hide, I like it here. People do not look at one with pity, hate or distrust just because you are not considered fully human. And since I have joined the pack my transformations have been nearly free from pain. And I am accepted for the first time in my life, it does not matter what I am. People here judge you on what you do and not what you are."

"What about the Marauders? They accepted you, did they not?"

Harry kept his voice low despite the knowledge that people could still hear him. Looking at Remus he saw the man's sad smile. "They did. Your father and Padfoot were wonderful people. But the fact is that I still had to hide a very big part of my being. They accepted me, but there were still things I could not show to them because I feared how they would react to the knowledge about some of the urges I have as a werewolf. Here there is no one who looks weird at me if I growl at someone."

They stopped outside one of the bigger huts which were placed in the middle of the small village. When Remus opened the door Harry sent the man a questioning glance before stepping inside. Remus followed with him and closed the door behind them and Harry used a few moments to let his eyes get used to the dimmer light.

The hut was not nearly as simple as it had looked from the outside, and yet Harry had a feeling that he had ended back in time, further than he had gone last time. The Wizarding world was far behind the muggles. But living in a werewolf community seemed to be even worse. There were only a few proofs that this was still a part of the Wizarding world, like a few books on various subjects and a clock like the one he had seen in the Burrow. But it was much smaller and only Greyback and Remus' names were on it. Other than that the place was very Spartan. A small fireplace in the middle of the floor, looking up Harry saw that there was a hole in the roof to let out the smoke. There were two piles of fur, and seeing that there was no other rooms in the hut Harry guessed that they were the beds but he did not feel bothered by this. Harry was almost certain that a pile of fur would be much more comfortable than the mattress he had slept on in his cupboard under the stairs. Or the bed he had had in Dudley's second bedroom.

Remus tugged him over to a small wood bench where they both sat down, facing each other in the half dark room. "So, you and Greyback are mates." It was more a statement than a question but Remus nodded nonetheless, a small blush covering his face. "Yes, I guess that would be the word for it." Harry hummed thoughtful. "I guess I will have to give him the talk. That about that if he hurts you I will hurt him."

"Pup, I do not think that it will have much effect on Fenrir. And I know that he would never willingly place me in harm's way."

"Why is it that you have not said my name a single time? Last I saw you, you had no problems with doing so. Honestly, you remind me a little too much about him. He also refuses to call me anything else than-"

Before Harry could say more a hand was placed over his mouth, stopping any words from coming out. "Careful pup. We are in war and although I trust Fenrir and the pack there are those who have a loose tongue. A little too much to drink and they are blabbing out all the secrets they might know, without a care for who they are together with. Fenrir and I decided that it would be better just to call you pup. It lessens the risk of you being recognised."

When Remus removed his hand Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess you are right about that."

"Believe me pup, it is for your own good. Now, tell me everything about what has happened since I last saw you. As I told you I have heard bits of news but I think it will be better to hear it all from you."

Sitting close to the closest thing he had as a father figure Harry did as he was told and started telling about what had happened in the months since he and Remus had last seen each others.

**)00(**

"Are this where they live?" Voldemort sneered at the small houses which looked nearly identical to each other. But unlike the other houses number four's garden was unkempt, the snow in the driveway had not been shovelled. There was next to no Christmas decoration to see and in the time he had watched the place, he had seen how the other people from the street had walked a big circle around the house. Whenever one of the children had come too close one of the grownups had hurried over and dragged the child away from there.

"Yes my lord, I am sure that this is the home of Petunia Dursley nee Evans and her son Dudley Dursley." Voldemort snorted. Whoever would call their child Dudley Dursley. "Unfortunately the husband, Vernon Dursley, has been nowhere to be found and no one knows what happened to him. He has disappeared from the face of earth from one day to another without leaving a single hint about where he has gone." Lucius answered, while continuing staring at the small house in front of them.

Lucius had found the house of Evan's relatives a week ago, and had, together with Severus and Narcissa, watched the house and the people in there from afar. They had paid attention to when the mother and son would come and leave. "The mutt is inside." Voldemort nodded. Lucius had told him about the dog the little family seemed to own. A vicious bastard which barked and growled at everything which came close enough. It was a wonder that no one had thought of putting the beast down. Obviously it was only a question about time before it would bite someone.

Seeing the light from the television lit up what he assumed was the living room Voldemort nodded to Lucius. "We are going in." The two wizards crossed the street without hesitation. It was late so no one would be there to see them, and they had hidden themselves from view under thick layers of magic. It was doubtful that Dumbledore would have any people around the place. Form what Voldemort had heard from Severus the headmaster had not bothered with any guards since the man had killed Potter. But it did not mean that he would not be careful. Lucius had searched the area through to make sure that there would be nothing to alert Dumbledore about their presence.

With a wandless alohomora he unlocked the door and opened it without a sound. He trusted Lucius not to make any sound. It would not do for the muggles in the house to know that they had visitors.

Voldemort did not bother with hiding his scowl as they looked around in the entry. The whole place screamed of muggle and normally he would never have taken a step inside such a house. But this was for Evan and for his lover he was willing to do a lot of things. He knew that Evan would probably not approve what he was about to do. His lover was too soft and too forgiving. Therefore Evan would not get to know about this. The only ones who knew where he were Severus and the two Malfoys. And the three of them knew better than to speak to Evan about this.

The inside did not look much better than the outside had done. Voldemort sneered silently at the dust he spotted at several places. The houseelves would have to burn his robes when he returned from this. Not only would they be dirty but also filled with muggle germs. He did not need to look at Lucius to know that the blonde had thoughts similar to his own.

Pictures of what looked like a big pig with a blonde wig filled the walls in the entrance. At other pictures there was a wale like man and a horse looking woman with an extreme long neck. How his Evan could be related to those people would forever be a big mystery to him.

Sneering at the pictures Voldemort continued his way into what proved to be the kitchen. Dirty dishes from what looked like a meagre meal stood at the wash. Voldemort decided to ignore the state of the room and instead continued into the living room, closely followed by Lucius who moved as a silent shadow.

A low growl met them as an incredible fat and ugly dog walked over to them. It lowered its head slowly, cringing its lips back to show off its teeth, only to pull back as fast as possible when Voldemort and Lucius pulled forth their wands and pointed them at the animal. Voldemort watched as the vile creature hid under the sofa table. Why would anyone have a dog if it could not even defend its own masters? It was something which he would never be able to understand.

When the dog had started growling the two persons on the sofa, Voldemort recognised them from the pictures out in the entrance, had turned their attention away from the television which was still on. Seeing their wands the fat boy, Voldemort did not bother with remembering his name, shrieked and while trying to hide behind his mother's back he placed his hands protective over his too wide rectum. If it had been any other situation he would probably have found the situation amusing but as it was he found himself disgusted at the sight.

The woman sat stiff on the sofa, seemingly split between running for safety, although there would be no use for that she would be stunned before she would have taken more than a step, and protect her child. He had seen this kind of situations several times before when he had been on a raid. It was interesting to see how different humans would react when they were facing a grave danger. Some jumped in front of the danger like true Gryffindors, and offered their life so other people could be spared. As if their life was worth more than others since they expected that they could save everybody by giving up their own lives. Others tried to hide, like the boy and dog were doing right now. He had even seen some who tried to make others take over their place. As he had said, muggles disgusted him.

Looking at Petunia Dursley Voldemort realised that Lily had been the lucky one of the two sisters. The red haired witch had been beautiful, smart and had had magic. From the look of it this woman had none of that. Yet he could not deny that the two women were related. As Lily Potter had done nearly sixteen years ago, Petunia was shielding her son probably trying to protect him. It could also be that she was too scared to move. But this time there was no prophecy and he was not there because of a single person. No, he wanted the whole family dead and lord Voldemort always got what he wanted.

"Hello Petunia, do you know who I am?" The woman did not react to the question, but continued staring at the two wands pointing at her and her son and Voldemort sighed. "Muggles have absolutely no manners. A real host would have offered us a seat and then perhaps also some tea." The two muggles did not seem to get the hint and Voldemort decided to approach this in another way.

"My name is lord Voldemort, perhaps you have heard of me? I think Lily might have spoken of me while she was still alive." The way the woman suddenly paled Voldemort took it as a yes. "I am here because of Evan James." The two muggles looked confused. "Where is your husband woman?" Mrs. Dursley turned her head to the side and Voldemort's eyes followed the direction she was looking at.

His eyes fell on the mutt, which had partly succeeded in hiding under the sofa table. It would have been better if not half of its body stuck out from under the table and the dog's body shook so badly that the whole table followed the animal's movement. Staring at the dog he wondered if the woman was trying to make a joke with him. It was just a normal dog. It was uglier than most of its kind but there was nothing special about it. Unless of course there had been someone before him.

"Finite Incantatem."

Voldemort stepped back together with Lucius and watched as the ugly mutt transformed into the beefy man whom he had seen on the pictures in the entry. The man looked confused as he was on all fours with the small table on top of him. The things on the table now lay spread on the floor. The house was already a mess so he failed to see why anybody would care if a little more was added. If he had thought that the mutt was ugly it was nothing compared to what he was now seeing on the floor in front of him. Filthy hair lay on the human's head, thick with sweat. His face had taken an interesting nuance between red and purple which Voldemort had never seen before. The man looked like he was about to speak up but Voldemort cut in before the muggle got a chance to do so. He wanted this to go as smoothly as possible.

"Get up and move over to the others." The man obeyed the best he could. He got on his feet, the table fell to the floor with a bang, and clumsy made his way over to the two other Dursleys. Voldemort raised an eyebrow when it seemed like neither son nor mother were too happy to see the man. Nonetheless they both moved so the man could sit down on the sofa together with them.

"How touching, the whole family is assembled. But I believe that someone is missing from our little meeting." The two males looked confused while Petunia paled more than she already had. Perhaps the woman had a few brain cells, although he did not believe that she used them often. If that had been the case they might not have been in this situation. It seemed like the sound of his voice was enough to get the man out of his dazzled state. "Now you listen here. We are good people and I do not want any of your freakish people here. Now leave before I call the police. It is bad enough that we had to suffer from whatever the other freak did to my family. Since _he_ came here, everything has gone wrong. I ended up as a dog!"

Lucius silenced the muggle with a flick of his wand. "Stupid muggle. How dare you to call me a freak? Do you have any idea of who I am? You should be on the floor where your kind belongs, begging for your worthless life because I am lord Voldemort." Out of the three muggles it seemed like Petunia was the only one who recognized the name. If possible she went even paler than she had been just a few moments before. "Vernon, darling, please be quiet. He is… this man is… he is."

"Going to kill you all?" The dark lord cut in, annoyed with how long it was taking the woman to say it, and the woman shook vigorously her head. "This is where you are wrong, woman. I have come to kill you all tonight for what you have done to my Evan." The boy's face scrunched up in confusion and it was not a pretty sight. "Evan is an ugly name I do not know anyone who is called that. It sounds like a pansy's name. I bet that it is your boyfriend and that makes you a faggot." Either the boy was very brave or unbelievable stupid. Voldemort believed it was most likely the latter.

As a predator he took a step forward, making the small family trying to get as far away from him as possible without leaving the sofa. Voldemort was not even sure that their legs would work at this point. "His name is Evan James and none of you dirty animals should utter his name if you know what is best for you. And neither he nor I are what you call faggots boy, what Evan and I share is something much too beautiful for your simple minds to understand." When none of the muggles seemed to recognize the name Voldemort gritted his teeth. "You may know him better as Harry Potter, I believe that he is your nephew."

When the man shot up from the sofa Voldemort lifted the silencing spell from him, wanting to hear what the muggle had to say about his Evan. "Now you listen here freaks, my family and I want nothing more to do with your kind. We took him in, clothed and feed him and made sure he had a roof over his head. And yet he kept demanding getting more and used his freakish power to hurt us after all what we have done for him. That old headmaster of the freakish school told us that the boy was dead, he had been killed. That day we celebrated. But then he suddenly showed up and cursed our perfect family, turned me into a dog, and now I know that it is true. He is truly, a freak, a faggot, something which should have been killed at birth."

"Crucio."

Voldemort watched with satisfaction as the muggle fell to the ground as soon as the curse hit him, screaming at the top of his lungs as if there was no tomorrow. All too soon Voldemort cut the curse off, it would not do for the muggle to lose his mind before Voldemort was finished with him. It had not helped with his anger, but he used the time to think about the knowledge he had gotten. Evan had told him nothing about visiting his relatives and it irritated him that he would not be able to take the subject up with Evan without explaining how he had gotten this knowledge.

Without a single word Voldemort forced his way into the fat muggle's mind, not bothering with being gentle. He was only willing to add the pain that the man was already feeling from the crucio. What little he had seen had already made him make up his mind about what would happen to those muggles. What he found in the man's mind would only help him with deciding how painful it would be for them.

The first memory he found was from Evan's early childhood. Voldemort watched as what looked to be Christmas morning. The younger versions of the two grown up Dursleys were seated on the sofa in the living room which looked exactly like the one he had been in just seconds before. The only difference was that it was much cleaner now than it had been then. Both were watching the two children who already as toddlers were as different as night and day. Even as a child Dudley, now Voldemort remembered the boy's name, but why anyone would ever name their son Dudley Dursley he would never understand, looked like a small pig, as he sat there in front of the tree with opened gift spread around him. Voldemort's red eyes wandered over to the second child, who sat a little away from the rest of the family. His lover looked adorable as a child, although he did not like how scrawny Evan looked, the too big clothes only seemed to make it worse than it already was. From the look of it, it was Evan's first Christmas away from his parents. And although his lover looked nothing like a pampered boy, it did not seem like Evan was abused, more like mildly neglected.

It troubled him to see that Evan only got a single gift while the cousin was nearly buried under the amounts of gifts he had gotten. Evan opened his small gift and knowing that no one would see it Voldemort did not hide his scorn when he saw what Evan had gotten. The teddy bear, although whole, was evidently second hand. But it did not stop his lover's younger self from smiling and hugging the teddy bear as if his life depended on it.

But Evan's happiness had caught the other toddler's attention and Dudley had crawled over to his cousin and was now trying to take the teddy bear. "Mine." It was all Evan said and Dudley suddenly let go off the teddy and started screaming as if he was in pain. Voldemort's eyes widened when he caught sight of the toddler's hands which were covered in blisters.

It was a powerful burst of accidental magic and it was also the reason to why no parent would ever abuse a magical child. And yet he could only watch as Vernon got up from the sofa and stamped over the two boys while the woman had already jumped to the two children, trying to calm down her screaming son. For one so fat Voldemort had not envisioned that the man would be able to hit with such a power. His gaze hardened when Evan fell to the floor and the teddy bear was ripped out of his hands and given to the still screaming toddler. A big bruise was already forming on Evan's cheek and Voldemort had a feeling that it was only the first of many he would watch his lover obtain.

In the next memory Evan was older, he estimated the boy to be around four or five years. Evan was taller, although it was not much he had grown. Instead he looked much thinner and the clothes seemed to hang around his pale form. The boy was standing in front of a stove on a stool. With an experience no one near his age was supposed to have Evan prepared the bacon. He frowned in concentration, not seeming to pay attention to anything else around. At the table, which was already filled with what looked like a full British breakfast, the three Dursleys were already seated.

With uttermost care Evan stepped down from the stool and lifted the pan down from the stove. The boy's tongue stuck out from between his lips and Evan was too focussed on carrying the pan to notice the foot his cousin stuck out right in front of where Evan was walking. As it was Voldemort could only look on as the inevitable happened. Evan fell and the bacon and the pan were sent flying through the air. The pan landed on the floor together with most of the bacon. But some of the meat landed on the person who was sitting closes, it was just Evan's luck that it happened to be Vernon.

Yet again Voldemort looked as the muggle took his anger out on Evan. What shocked him was the way Evan seemed to take the beating. His lover cried and curled into a ball to protect his body against the falling fists, but he did not try to defend himself in any manner. There was no trace of magic. If not because Voldemort knew better he would say that Evan that time had so good control over his magic that the boy could stop it from doing anything to save him. But from his point of view magic probably did him more harm than good.

When the male Dursley had tired himself out, he grabbed Evan's foot and dragged the boy across the floor by his ankle and out of the kitchen. The two other Dursleys had not even tried to lift a finger to help their relative. Voldemort followed with the pair and watched seething as Vernon Dursley disposed his nephew in the cupboard and then closed and looked the door. He did not even bother with checking if the boy was still alive after the beating he had just received.

The last memory he watched was Evan's visit when his lover had returned to this time. The punishment was typical for Evan. He pulled out of Vernon's mind when Evan left the house, knowing that he would see no more of interest in there.

Voldemort blinked slowly, trying to regain control over his anger before he did something which he ended up regretting. He silently compared the house to what he had seen in the foul muggle's memories. It seemed like Evan's curse had worked well. More than well if he had to say so himself.

Vernon Dursley was down on all four on the floor, looking like he was going to be sick. Voldemort knew that being legilimenced the first time could hardly be comfortable and since he had not bothered with being gentle it had probably felt worse than it usually would when he had gone through the man's memories.

The dark lord did not even try to hide his disgust for the muggles in the living room. "So you though that you could just treat Evan like a houseelf and get away with it? Evan might have put the whole thing behind him, but I know that there are several people in our world whom would be more than willing to do what he did not do. Evan is a very important person in our world and we protect our own."

"No magical parent dares to lay a hand on a child of our world. It is common knowledge that the child's magic will react and try to protect the child the best way it can." The way Lucius spoke Voldemort knew that the blonde had caught on what he was talking about when he had mentioned houseelves.

"Believe me when I say that I will not be as forgiving as Evan was." Voldemort said, raising his wand. He had the feeling that these muggles would not take him serious unless they saw proofs of his so called freakiness. He would teach them who the true freaks were. "**It is people like you which are the reason to why muggles should be eliminated.**" It seemed like him speaking Parseltongue scared the trio far more than it would have done if they actually had understood what he had said. "Now, what to do with your people?" Voldemort mused out loud while never letting go of the three muggles with his eyes. By his side Lucius stood as the perfect picture of a pureblood lord.

A smirk slowly spread on Voldemort's face and he hid a grimace when the air suddenly reeked of urine. Turning his attention to the boy who was still hiding behind his mother Voldemort derided at him. "You are already so scared that you have lost control over your body's functions, what a pitiful thing. The only answer he got was a pitiful whimper which reminded him of a wounded animal rather than a human being.

"Crucio." Voldemort watched with mild interest as the boy fell off of the sofa and onto the floor while he screamed. The woman hurried down to her son's side, trying to soothe the boy while begging for mercy on his ways. "I suppose you mean like the mercy you showed your own blood relative whenever your husband or child lifted their hands with harm in their thoughts. So enlighten me, muggle, why should I show mercy when you have never been capable of doing so yourself?" The woman just looked up at him with tear filled eyes and Voldemort found himself ending the curse far sooner than he had intended.

"Pitiful beings, you do not even deserve to breathe the same air as my Evan." Out of the corner of his eyes Voldemort had been watching the obese muggle male and was therefore prepared when the man lunged for him. Seemingly effortless he put up a shied in front of himself and watched as Vernon smashed right into it. The muggle joined his son and wife on the floor with a pathetic whimper. "This is a waste of my precious time." Normally he would have enjoyed torturing muggles, especially those three whom needed to be punished for what they had done to his Evan. But Voldemort knew that there still was the chance that Dumbledore might be keeping an eye on the place. It would not do for the old goat to arrive and spoil his fun.

"I suppose we will have to cut this visit short, Lucius." The blonde nodded. "Yes my lord." Voldemort watched with slight amusement as the three muggles' faces lit up. It seemed like they believe that they were going to be left out of the hook. "Avada Kedavra." The green light hit the woman right in the chest and she fell to the floor without a sound, her unseeing eyes staring up at the ceiling. "Mommy." Voldemort observed the boy still shaking from the curse he had suffered under, shake his mother's still body while big tears ran down his cheeks. "She got a merciful death, because although she hated my Evan, she never lifted a hand to hurt him, unlike the two of you."

That got the two males' attention and Voldemort just smirked sincerely at them before he made sign for Lucius to join in. After all, it would not be fair if the blonde should just stand and watch as he had his fun.

"Sectumsempra." Voldemort fired the first curse and watched as deep cuts appeared on the boy's skin. It was the same curse as that disgusting Weasley had used on his Evan. Once he got his hand on the boy he was going to suffer. The only reason to why he was not going after the whole family was because of the twins whom had joined his forces. If they wanted ot end their relatives life, they would be welcome.

"Crucio."

They continued their game of coming up with the most curses until the muggles were left as an unrecognisable mess. Voldemort wrinkled his nose and since he knew that none of the muggles would be able to move he stopped himself from stunning them. "We will leave now, do not worry about showing us the door I am quite sure that we will be able to find it ourself." Not sparing Evan's relatives a second glance Voldemort turned around on the spot and left the living room, closely followed by Lucius.

Voldemort stopped in the entry, looking at the small door under the stairs which he had seen several times in Vernon's memories.

He opened the door and stared into the small room which had belonged to Evan until his lover had started receiving the letters from Hogwarts. Even though it had been so long since Evan had placed his feet in the house the room's air was thick with his lover's magic. Although the magic could be felt in the whole house it was more evident in the cupboard.

Closing the door Voldemort straightened his back. His face was darkened with thoughts of what had happened to Evan inside those four walls. What he had done to those people was way too light. They deserved a far worse punishment than the one he had given them. And who was he to stop the muggles from getting what they deserved? "Come Lucius, the night is still young and I have things I want done before we can rest." Lucius bowed his head, having sneaked a peak over his lord's shoulder. Although the blonde did not know what was so special about this cupboard Voldemort knew that the man would find out about it one way or another, it was only a question about time.

They left the house, ignoring the weak sounds of agony coming from the people in the living room. Voldemort wrapped his cloak around his body, not really bothered with the cold air but it would hide the blood splatters on his clothes in case they met someone before they could leave.

Crossing the empty street Voldemort stopped and turned around to face the house. An intense fire burned in his eyes as he thought of all the things he had seen his Evan go through as a child. Yet he knew it would not do to face Evan about this subject. Too few people knew about it and it would be too easy for Evan to find out where he had gotten the knowledge from.

But it did not mean that he would not try to keep Evan out of troubles from now on although he had a feeling that it was hopeless to try. But when had Voldemort ever been the one to let such a thing stop him from doing what he wanted?

Knowing that Lucius was watching him Voldemort sent an Incendio at the house and watched as the fire rose. The muggles screamed from inside the house but Voldemort did not feel worried. Nothing would be able to save their miserable lives. Once the fire department arrived they would already be dead, he had no doubt about this.

With a last look at the pureblood next to him Voldemort apparated away. He felt like he needed a nice and long bath to wash the dirt and blood off of him. The robes he would order the houseelves to burn.

**)00(**

"It seems like the nargles have built a nest in your hose. If you are not careful they are going to hide your things from you." Luna's dreamy voice greeted Hermione when the Gryffindor witch opened the door. "Hello Luna, have you had a nice Christmas?" Already having said goodbye to her parents this morning Hermione lifted her suit case and stepped out of the house. She locked the door and put the key in a pocket before she turned to face Luna.

Luna was dressed in a bright yellow sweater and a pale green skirt which reached her ankles. She was wearing black rain boots with red and green spots, which seemed several times too big for her. "I have never understood muggles. I asked some of them if I could borrow their floo and instead they showed me their loo. Oh, hello Hermione, nice to see you, are you ready to go?"

"Yes, my parents left this morning to visit my great aunt so I am ready."

"Good, we are behind the plan so we better hurry up. Why do you think people are staring at us?"

Looking up Hermione saw that some of the neighbour children from across the street were indeed staring at Luna with wide eyes. "Perhaps they have seen the nargles which are in your house." Luna answered her own question as if Hermione was not even there. "We should warn them about the nargles. They can be really vicious beings."

Before Luna could go over to the group of children Hermione placed a hand on the other girl's arm. "I have already talked with their parents so there will be no need for that. Do you not think that we should hurry up? It was you who said we were behind the time plan."

"Do not worry, Hermione. The green eyed kitten is not where he is supposed to be. We will find him once he return from his visit to the stag and the Grim's friend." Hermione's eyebrows rose until they reached her hairline. So Harry had found Lupin? She knew that professor Lupin had cut off all contact with the Order the day he had gotten the news about Dumbledore killing Harry. Hermione guessed that she should not be surprised if this proved to be true. Luna seemed to know much about what happened before anyone else found out about it. But Hermione already knew better than to ask the Ravenclaw where she got the knowledge from.

"Until then let us go see if we can find some Umgubular Slashkilters. I have heard that they like to hide in your cinemas." Hermione paled slightly at the thought of having Luna in such a public place. At least it would help with passing time until Luna deemed it time for them to find Harry.

**)00(**

Harry walked next to Remus through the thigh high snow, both of them wearing a matching grin although Remus was trying to hide his and be serious. "Really, pup, was it necessary to do that?" Harry's grin widened not the slightest bit worried about the tone in Remus' voice. "Of course I had to Remus. As I said, someone would have to tell him what happened should he dare to lay a hand on you."

Remus chuckled and Harry frowned, unable to see what was so funny about what he had just said. "Yes, but was it something you had to do in front of most of the pack? And did you have to name some of the things which would happen to him if he did not behave?"

"Because he would not have taken me serious otherwise!"

The werewolf sighed and looked up at the sky. "If you are looking for answers I doubt that you will find them by looking at clouds."

"I am asking for patience to deal with you, pup."

"You know that you love me."

Harry batted the hand away when Remus ruffled his hair. "Of course I do pup." The warmth in Remus' voice told Harry that the werewolf was speaking the truth and he smiled up at the older male. "It has been nice."

"So it has been. We have to spend more time together." Harry nodded. "Next time you should perhaps come and visit me?"

"Visiting you in You Know Who's home?"

Harry rolled his eyes at Remus' disbelieving tone. "He is not really so bad. And as I have told you the twins are there too. Think of all the fun we four Gryffindor can have together. None of them will ever know what hit them."

"I guess that I can remember a few of the pranks we pulled back in school. Perhaps we should see if they are as effective as I remember them."

"Remus, your words are like music to my ears."

They stopped in the clearing which Harry had arrived in three days prior. Harry looked around before looking back at Remus. "Well, I guess this is it." He found himself swept off of his feet and into a strong embrace. "Take care of yourself brat. I am not sure I will survive it if something should happen to you." Harry ignored the way his heart clenched at the werewolf's words. "You know me, Remus, I am too thick headed to stay dead. Just ask Voldemort or Dumbledore. They have both tried to deal with that problem but have been unable to come up with a solution to it."

Remus let go off of him and shook his head. "Only you would speak so lightly about such a subject pup."

"Someone has to do."

Harry took the portkey forth from his pocket. It was a pink ribbon and somehow he had a feeling that the twins had something to do with the choice of portkeys. He would have to talk with them about it the next time he saw them. "I will see you later. And tell Greyback that the ears and tail will disappear in a week's time, that is if he behaves. But if he laughs at me like that again they might become permanent."

With that Harry let himself be whisked back to Voldemort's manor by the portkey, leaving Remus alone in the clearing.

**Not nearly as long as last chapter but I hope that you liked it.**

**I have always wondered when J.K. Rowling wrote the parts from the Pensieve, how come that the person watching the scene does not see it from the point of view of the owner of the memories. After all it should be impossible to know more than what you experience yourself. Perhaps it is just the wonder called magic. **


	21. Chapter 21

**Beta: ****angelhitomie, all mistakes are solemnly mine. **

**Disclaimer: Despite how many letters I have written to Santa Claus the man has still not given me the rights to Harry Potter for Christmas. **

It was a chaotic situation which greeted Harry when he landed in the entrance hall in Voldemort's manor. When a red coloured spell flew over his head and he could smell burnt hair Harry threw himself to the floor to get himself out of line. He rolled around and got up in a crunched position, his eyes already taking in the situation he had unexpectedly landed in.

The entrance was in chaos. Pictures lay on the floor, empty since the people in there had fled, probably as soon as the battle had started. The inventory had been overturned and was either blown to pieces or had been ripped apart by the wild flying spells and curses which seemed to fill the air.

The sofa he had sought shelter behind lay on its back and proved to be the perfect shelter, unfortunately it was not as abandoned as he first had believed. "Hello Harry, the Wrackspurts told me that you would come here today, although they thought that you would have come back sooner from your visit at the friend of the stag and the Grim and his mate." Harry's shocked expression slowly disappeared and he moved away from the blonde Ravenclaw although he made sure to stay behind the sofa. He had no wish about being hit of a stray curse. From the look of it they were quite nasty although not on the level of the ones the death eaters used.

"Luna, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for Umgubular Slashkiters, we tried to search for them in a cinema but there they were not. So I thought you might have seen some of them. But the smart owl came because she wanted to meet the green eyed kitten." Harry's face flushed. "How do you know what my animagus form is?"

"The Wrackspurts told me."

Blinking Harry nodded slowly. "The Wrackspurts, why did I not think of that?" Luna placed a comforting hand on his arm. "You know, if you opened your eyes, you would be able to see a whole new world."

"Mind telling me what is going on here?" He stored Luna's words away for a later time right now he had other things to think about. Harry's eyes searched Luna's face for anything which could tell him that she was an enemy. Hate, anger, disgust, anything. Instead he only saw Luna's dreamy smile, making him wish he could use Legilimency to take a look into her mind to gain knowledge. But knowing what he knew about Luna Harry guessed it was better just to trust what his instinct told him in this matter. With the way she spoke it was not to know what her mind would look like.

While waiting for Luna to answer the question Harry stole a glance over the top of the sofa. From what he could see the fight was still going on. From the other side of the entrance, the end with the stairs which lead up to next floor, he caught a glimpse of Draco's familiar blonde hair. It meant that whoever was fighting against the blonde was on their side of the room. But no matter how much Harry looked he could not see anyone other than the three of them.

"The smart owl has overcome its short confusion about who it true friends are, but the owl fear that it might be too late for her to apologise to the green eyed kitten. Unfortunately it does not seem like the silver snakes are willing to forgive the owl for what it did to the kitten, which is why we find ourselves in this situation." Harry nodded, running what Luna had said through his head, trying to figure out what she had meant. "Luna, Draco has absolutely no reason to react like that towards you. It is not like you have done me anything."

Through the noise from the fight going on, on the other side of the sofa Harry could clearly hear the blonde girl giggle. "Silly, I am no owl." Quickly ducking down behind the sofa when something exploded and sent bits flying everywhere Harry turned to face the girl who was squatting and was humming a soft melody which he did not recognise. "Luna, who did you bring with you?" He tried to run the possibilities through his head but seemed to meet a dead end every time. "I brought no one with me. The Wrackspurts told the smart owl and I where to go and we just followed orders." Harry felt the urge to smash his head into something hard but stopped himself from following that thought. He doubted very much that it would help on the headache he had started to feel despite what his instinct was telling him right now. Besides he doubted that Voldemort would be happy to see more damage done to the manor and he would only be adding fuel to the fire if Voldemort found out he did something which the dark lord thought would harm him.

"Luna, I need you to tell me, who is this owl? Is it a danger to the people here?" Although he doubted that Luna would ever do anything to harm him, Harry had learnt to be careful. He did not want to do the same mistake two times. Meeting his gaze Luna's eyes seemed to almost dance with misfit. "If you look up right now you will be able to see who the owl is."

Doing as he was told Harry stuck his head up once again, silently begging that none of the stray curses would hit him and searched through the room with his eyes. If possible the room looked worse than it had done when he had first arrived. Harry drowned a small fire which had started not far from his hiding place and had gone unnoticed until now. On the other hand he guessed that people had other things to worry about right now.

Green eyes first widened and the narrowed to small slits when he caught sight of familiar brown and bushy hair. He clenched his fists, not taking his eyes off of Hermione, who, like Luna, was dressed in muggle clothes, although hers were more normal than the Ravenclaw's attire. The witch was dancing around and firing one defensive spell after another towards the opposite side of the room where their Slytherin year mate was.

He had not seen the Gryffindor witch since the day he had woken up in the cell at Hogwarts. The memory of how Hermione had stood at the side line and had done nothing while Ron had yelled bloody murder at him was still fresh in his memories. Harry had thought of her as his friend. Even when Ron and all the others had abandoned him through the years in Hogwarts Harry had always been able to count on Hermione being there for him. Losing her had hurt, and it made the anger in his chest grow until he found it hard to breathe.

As if sensing his eyes digging holes into her back Hermione suddenly turned around to face him. Her wand was raised and she had already her mouth open to send a curse at him when she seemed to freeze. Until now Harry had not noticed that he had stepped out from behind the shield which the sofa had made. It seemed like he still had to learn to think things through before he acted.

Seeing Draco move hasty towards them from the far end of the entrance hall Harry signalled for the Slytherin to stay in the background. This was something which he planned on dealing on his own. Hermione's hand fell but Harry noted that she kept her wand by her side instead of putting it back in her pocket. She had already turned her back to her enemy. If Harry had not been there she would probably have been captured by now.

"What are you doing here, Granger?" The witch flinched and Harry wondered if it was the harsh tone or the use of her last name which provoked that reaction. Then again, why did he care? "Harry."

"It is Potter to you, Granger. The use of my first name is reserved for those I call my friends and you are not included in that."

Again Hermione flinched and Harry frowned. His former friend had never been a good actor which told him that her reaction was probably real. But he did still not understand why she would react like that. Hermione got a determined look in her face, one Harry knew all too well and the girl suddenly stood straight as a soldier. It seemed like he was about to be on the receiving end for one of her speeches.

"Harry, I am-"

"Did you not hear what he said, mudblood? Only his friends are allowed to call him by his name and I do not believe that you fall into that category." Both Gryffindors' heads snapped over to Draco who had come over to them after Harry had stepped forth. "Hello Draco, where are the others?" Harry asked, knowing that he needed to calm down before more would be destroyed than it had already been. "The dark lord and my parents are away for a meeting with a vampire clan and uncle Severus is down in the potion laboratory. Since the potion he is working on has reached an unstable state we are under orders not to disturb him unless the world is ending."

"And what about the duo?"

Harry knew better than to speak of the twins when Hermione was near, at least by name. After all the two red haired boys were supposed to be dead, and it was best if only a few people knew the truth. It lessened the risk of the wrong people finding out about it. But he still wanted to know how his two friends were doing. "The dark lord sent them on a mission since they were bored without you being here and therefore started annoying everyone." Thoughtfully Harry hummed. For the twins to go after Voldemort with one of their pranks they had to be truly bored. It could also be their way to deal with the fact that it was their first Christmas without their family.

Realising that he had forgotten about Hermione being in the room Harry's body tensed. He did not fear anything from Luna's side. If the girl had wanted to attack him she would already have done so. But although Hermione had not lifted her wand against him she had let others do so. Who knew if she suddenly felt ready to take the next step? "What are you doing here Granger? You better hurry up and explain. As Draco said Voldemort is due back in any moment and I highly doubt that he will be happy to see you."

Harry saw the unshed tears in the girl's eyes as she nodded and stuck her wand into her pocket. Harry raised an eyebrow, not really believing what he was seeing. Either Hermione was really stupid or she wanted to show him that she did truly not want to harm him. Harry was not sure about what he should believe.

"When Ron took me down to the dungeons, I had no idea about what was going on. He had been with the headmaster and told me that professor Dumbledore had told that there would be a surprise for us down in the dungeon." Hermione spoke slowly while looking him directly into the eyes, it was obvious that she had thought long about what she would say. "Listening to what you said and seeing what the headmaster had done to you and what Ron did, made me think. Professor Dumbledore has always told about how important it is to show compassion and give people a second chance. And yet what they did to you was no better than what the death eaters do to their prisoners."

"Granger, what the dark lord's followers do to the enemy cannot be compared to what happened to Harry. At least we kill them quickly or they are tortured until we get the information out of them. And when we have it, we kill them. What was done to him was torture for the sake of torture. If someone is barbaric it would be you Gryffindors."

Harry watched with interest the exchange between Hermione and Draco. Both of them seemed to attack each other by using him. Just listening to them was enough to give him a headache. "Harry is my friend. I have stood by his side several times, where you have just tried to complicate things for us."

"That may be, mudblood. But you abandoned him in a time where Harry needed you. What reason does he have to trust you and how do we know that you are not just going to run back to your beloved headmaster at the first chance you get?"

"Enough!"

Finally the two of them shut their mouths and turned their attention towards him, as if expected him to take their side in the discussion. Running a hand through his hair Harry sighed in frustration. "You act like two children arguing over your favourite toy."

"Nonsense, a Malfoy would never sink low enough to do such a thing." Harry silenced the blonde's protests with a look he knew Draco had learnt what meant by now. After all he had used it whenever he told Draco what he had seen a Malfoy could actually do. Seeing that the Malfoy heir understood the message Harry nodded curtly to him before he turned his attention back to Hermione, surprised to see the sorrowful look she gave him. "When did you manage to become so grown up?" She quietly asked, and Harry chose to ignore Draco's snort of disagreement as he answered her question. "One does not survive having a maniac after them without being forced to grow up."

"But I thought that You Know Who was not after you then why-?"

"Honestly mudblood. For one who is supposed to be so smart you sure are stupid. Harry is speaking of Dumbledore."

"Draco, I would appreciate it if you would stop interrupting me when I am speaking, and do not use that word. My mother was after all what you would call a mudblood."

Despite the calm tone he used while speaking it seemed like Draco caught the warning in his voice. The blonde clamped his mouth shut and nodded, all the while he kept glaring at the girl. Harry let him get away with it. He knew that he could not force Draco to let go of a grudge, Harry himself had plenty of them. But he would count the small blessings and stopping the use of the word mudblood was one of them. Maybe he should take it up with Voldemort. If they could make the death eaters refrain using the word and maybe make them accept that they were not the only ones with pure blood it would be a huge step. Harry knew that he should not count on a miracle but he was allowed to dream.

Realising that he had been staring for quite some time Harry snapped out of his daze and turned his attention back to Hermione. "Explain to me what you are doing here. Last time you were more than happy to wash your hands clean of me." When Hermione breathed in Harry found himself interrupting the witch before she could begin. "I do not want to hear whatever speech you have prepared beforehand. Tell me what you really mean."

Hermione hesitated, her eyes going unfocused and Harry waited patiently. It was the first time he saw the witch act like this but it was necessary. He needed to find out what she wanted and he had leant that when Hermione spoke without having prepared anything it was easier to see if she was lying or not.

"I miss you, Harry. I miss the boy who saved me from the troll in our first year and who was my friend. I miss hearing you speak about Quidditch and drag me with you on crazy adventures every year. The boy who was the first to jump to people's defence. I am sorry that I did not do anything to help you. When I had finally realised with whom my loyalty lies at you were already gone. I did not know how to contact you but Luna told me that she could show me the way. So I followed her and I came here to apologies to you and I am sorry Harry. I will do anything to make it up to you. I swear that I have never been sorrier in my whole life."

"So am I."

Harry answered quietly, but kept looking into her eyes. "The boy you knew does not exist any longer. He died the first time Dumbledore tried to kill me." At the heartbroken look in the girl's face Harry found himself continuing, no longer caring about who was listening to their conversation. "You betrayed me. Of all the people I trusted to listen to my side of the story you bluntly ignored it as if five years of friendship meant nothing to you. So it is me who is sorry because you broke my trust and it is already a hard thing to gain. But I guess that I will have to take a page out of Dumbledore's book and give you a second chance."

Harry grimaced at his words but suddenly found his face filled with brushy hair as his life was being hugged out of him. He guessed that carrying around all those heavy books had given Hermione extra strength. "Thanks Harry, I promise that I will not disappoint you like that again."

"Very well, but remember, if you should ever do such a thing again, you will not get another chance. I do not let people step me over the toes unpunished."

"Merlin, spare me the Hufflepuffness. I think I am going to be sick."

Draco's voice made them break apart and both Harry and Hermione were blushing. "Thanks Harry." He stared in horror as Hermione sniffed. Many things he could deal with, but crying girls were not one of them. "You are not going to cry, are you?" Harry winced when the horror was audible in his voice but it seemed to knock Hermione out of it. "Of course not, it is just that I am so happy." Harry sent Draco a desperate glance but the blonde seemed content to watch from afar. "You deal with her yourself, Harry. I just want to know how you plan to tell this to the lord without getting her killed."

Groaning Harry sank to the floor. It seemed like whenever he had dealt with one problem another one would pop up. From over him he heard Luna's voice. "It sound like the green eyed kitten is suffering from the adverse effect of a bite from a nargle. Some, we better look for its nest before more people are bitten."

At least he knew that Luna would stay the same forever.

**)00(**

"Where is she?" Voldemort slammed the doors to his private chambers open and stalked into the room. Behind him he heard the doors close and lock, making it so that no one could leave or come in without his contest.

He had come back from his mission at the vampires, which had been a success, only to be informed by one of the houseelves that his Evan had returned. Normally Voldemort would have been happy but hearing that his lover was having a guest and who it was made his temper flare. He had decided to take care of the Gryffindor traitor first before he found the other one which had come with her. Knowing that the other person was with Draco Voldemort felt slightly calmer. At least he knew that the other girl would not disappear while he dealt with this one problem.

The two teens, who were seated on the floor in front of the fireplace, both looked over at him. Voldemort's eyes narrowed when he saw the mudblood sitting close to his Evan. His glare hardened when she moved behind his lover, using Evan as a shield but that would not save her. Voldemort had read about what the girl had said about his lover in the news papers. She would regret ever having nattered a single evil word about his lover.

"Hello Tom, is your meeting with the vampires already over? I am surprised that they wanted to meet you, I thought that vampires usually sleep at this time of the day. And thanks for the gift. I liked seeing Remus again, although I doubt that Greyback is willing to let me visit for that the next long time." Normally Evan would not talk like this when there were others around them and Voldemort was curious to hear what his lover had done to the werewolf alpha. But right now he had other matters to concentrate on.

Voldemort continued glaring at the girl behind his lover. "Step aside Evan." Although he knew that he could easily curse the girl as they were now he did not want to risk Evan getting caught in the middle of the fight. And there was a risk that Evan would be hit by one of the curses. Besides it irked him that the two of them were being so close. No one should be allowed to be so close to his Evan but him.

"No." Evan's voice was steady and he was unable to trace any uncertainty in it. Looking into Evan's eyes Voldemort saw the challenge in them. "Evan, I am only saying this nicely one time. Now step away from the mudblood." Voldemort was about to say more when the taste of soap suddenly filled his mouth. Glaring at Evan he used the counter spell but unfortunately the taste of soap lingered even when the spell was stopped. "What was that for?" He spoke with low voice, knowing that Evan would still be able to hear him. The room was so silent that one would have been able to hear a pin drop.

"Do not use that word."

"Which one? Was it step aside, or perhaps it was mudblood?" Voldemort had not even finished speaking the word before he had to use the counter spell again. "Would you stop that?" Evan now stood from the floor, chin raised obstinately. "I will stop using the spell once you stop using that word." Voldemort stepped closer and glared down at Evan who did not back down. "Move."

"And if I do not, what will you do then? Use the Cruciatus on me?"

"If that would make you listen to me." The way Evan's eyes narrowed Voldemort knew that he should probably not have said that. They stood, facing each other, panting hard. The only sound to be heard in the room was the one of them breathing.

**)00(**

Harry glared up at Voldemort through his eyelashes, not believing his own ears. "If that is the way you want it, then I have only one more thing to say to you, Voldemort."

"What is it? Should I stop fighting in this war?" A heavy sadness filled Harry as he continued looking up at the older wizard. Harry showed Voldemort away from his with a push of his magic. "Goodbye Voldemort." Grabbing Hermione's hand Harry dragged the girl with him and forced the doors to unlock for them. As soon as they were out of the chamber Harry started running, forcing Hermione to either follow with him or fall. "Slow down Harry."

"No Mione, we are leaving and it is right now."

Reaching the stairs Harry did not bother with taking the normal way down. Holding Hermione close to him Harry jumped over the banister, ignored the way the witch tensed against his body and the yell he heard from somewhere behind him. The fall was short and Harry was blinded by his hair flying around him. He swore to do something about it. Although he liked his hair he would not allow it to become a hindrance to him.

Using his magic Harry softened the fall although the landing was still hard he was pretty sure that none of them was harmed. Looking up he saw Luna and Draco already being over at the big fireplace. At least it saved him from the troubles to go looking for them. The Malfoy heir was looking boring while Luna was humming softly and watching them with a knowing smile and Harry was sure that he should not be surprised if she knew what was going on. Placing Hermione back on the floor Harry tugged at the witch and made her move. They needed to leave before Voldemort blocked all exits.

Reaching the two blondes it seemed like Draco had finally caught on that something was going on. The Slytherin's head snapped up and he stared at the approaching Gryffindors with a thoughtful expression. Harry noted that the entrance hall was back to its old self without a trace of what had happened not even three hours ago. "Draco, Luna we are leaving now!" Harry spoke with strength in his voice he had not used since the day where Hogsmeade had been attacked by Grindelwald's people. Still he was surprised to see Draco follow his order, especially when it came from him.

Luna had already found some floo powder, how she had gotten her hands on it he had no idea about. It would not surprise him if she actually carried it around. Perhaps he should follow her example from now on. It would ensure that he could use an open floo connection whenever he had a need for it.

Taking the three others teens with him Harry threw himself in the green flames. Casting one last glance over his shoulders he saw Voldemort's dark clad person halfway down the staircase. Green eyes locked with red orbs and for a moment it was as if time stood still. Then Harry forced himself to breaking eye contact and they were whisked away from the dark lord's manor.

**)00(**

The four teens stumbled out of a fireplace while he still tried to figure out what was going on. The Lovegood girl had dragged him around the manor for hours looking for some creature which Draco had never heard about before. The only reason to he did not leave her on her own was because Harry had asked him to look after her. They both knew what kind of dangers were hidden in the dark lord's home. But Draco had rather wanted to be together with Harry. He did not like the thought of leaving the Gryffindor alone with the mud – Granger.

Then, when they had come back to where they had started, luckily the houseelves had cleaned up the mess from the fight, the girl had suddenly refused to move out of the place.

Then suddenly the two Gryffindors had come running as if they were being hunted by the dark lord himself. Draco had not even been able to protest when someone had grabbed him by his wrist and dragged him through the floo without a single warning.

That was the reason to why Draco found himself in a situation which a Malfoy had not been in before. His great uncle from France had but he did not count since he had been disowned for having an affair with a centaur. From what Draco had been able to find out the man had lived a long life with the centaurs in the forest. "Someone move your elbow from my ribs." He said, trying to find out if anything had been changed or was missing. People were not supposed to use the floo like that. It was an art which the Malfoys learned to master from when they were small and now the bloody Gryffindors and one crazy Ravenclaw had managed to destroy his perfect score.

There were two bodies on top of him and one under him. Rolling around Draco pushed the two girls off of him and at the same time freed Harry who had taken off their fall with his own body. Of course that was something a typical Gryffindor would do, scarifying himself for others' safety.

"Someone mind telling me what happened back there? I swear you Gryffindors cannot be left alone for even a moment without getting yourself into troubles."

"Be quiet Malfoy and move away from Harry." Draco was about to protest when he heard Harry groan near from the boy's spot on the floor. The Gryffindor was between Draco and the two girls, and lay face own. Other than a soft breathing there was no sign that he was still alive.

Suddenly Harry sat up and turned around to face the fireplace. Draco watched as Harry mumbled a few words and the fireplace lit blue before going back to normal. Seemingly satisfied Harry let himself fall back on the floor, not caring about the mess in the room. "So Harry, what happened and where are we?"

"My home." Was the soft answer he got. "Home, last time I checked, you had been raised by your muggle relatives. I doubt that they would have a floo connection." Draco found green eyes focusing directly at him, burning with a strength which sent shivers down his spine. "How do you know where I grew up?"

"No one knew where you spent your childhood. But it is no secret that you grew up among the muggles. And you have several times said that you did not want to return to your relatives. It did not take a genius to figure out who you live with. And if anyone could put their act together the dark lord would have been able to find you long ago."

"Lived with. I have not seen them for quite a while."

Granger moved closer until she was sitting close enough to touch Harry, ignoring the glare Draco sent her. "But Harry, why can I see Hogwarts from here?" Draco's head snapped up and he looked out of the nearest window. As Granger had pointed out Hogwarts could be seen and even closer was Hogsmeade. The Malfoy heir finally knew where they were. Pansy had showed him and Blaise pictures of this place in History of Magic. "We are in the home of Evan James." He said looking around in the room which was a big mess.

Harry grinned and rubbed his forehead. "Sorry about the mess but last time I was here I did not have the time to clean up." Harry's face darkened as he suddenly stood and headed for the door which leaded out of the room. "Tell Hubert that you are here on my permission. I will be outside if you have any need for me." With that Harry walked out of the door and out of sight.

When Harry left the room it was as if an until now unknown tension disappeared. Draco stood up and cleand his robes with a flick of his wand. Meanwhile his grey eyes were wandering around, taking in every little detail they could. He had talked with Pansy and Blaise about visiting the home of Evan James and Tom M. Riddle while they had still attended Hogwarts. It had never gotten further than that because they had found the kitten the day they had been in Hogsmeade. Draco nearly groaned and he would have hit himself if not because he had had audience right now. The Lovegood girl had called Harry a green eyed kitten with black fur. Belezar had fit that description. Draco would not be surprised if Belezar was actually Harry's animagus form. With all the things which had happened the last few months something big would have to happen if he should be surprised.

His eyes widened slightly when he realised that it meant that Harry had been into the Slytherin common room. Not only that but Draco had transfigurated toys for the cat and played with the bloody kitten together with his year mates for hours until the animal had fallen asleep in the middle of the floor. He wondered why Harry had not spoken of this even a single time.

"How did you manage to pass the wards?" The wary voice made Draco grip his wand as he turned around to face the one who had spoken. Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed that Granger had done the same while Lovegood was staring straight at the person, or perhaps he should rather say right through the ghost. Hubert, because Draco presumed that this was the Hubert Harry had been talking about, was the ghost of a young boy, too young to have even attended Hogwarts or any other magical school. Long hair reached the ghost's shoulder and his nose was too big to his small face. Perhaps, if he had had a chance to grow up he might have looked better. "May I ask if you are Hubert?" Draco asked. Despite the fact that he had grown up in the Wizarding world ghosts still creped him out. It was something about the whole being dead thing which creped him out.

"Where do you know my name from?" The ghost looked from one person to another while making sure to keep his distance to them. It was clear that he did not trust any of them.

To Draco's surprise it was Granger who first opened her mouth. "Good evening. My name is Hermione Granger, with me are Luna Lovegood and Draco Malfoy." The ghost turned its full attention on him and Draco waited, wanting to see what was going to happen. "You look a lot like Abraxas Malfoy. Tom used to bring him and the two Blacks here to hold a meeting. I have not seen any of them for a long time. How are you related?"

"Abraxas Malfoy was my grandfather, he died of Dragon Pox when I was young." The ghost, Hubert, nodded with a thoughtful expression in his face. "What a shame. He was a true Malfoy, not like his father, you grandfather I believe."

Draco stared at the ghost, thinking about the questions he could ask it about his grand and great grandfather when Granger decided to open her mouth again. "Not to be rude or anything, but who are you? You have still not answered that question."

The ghost hovered near the door while looking at the three of them. "My name is Hubert Prince and this is my family home. My family moved out shortly after my death and no one moved in here until Evan arrived." Hubert almost sounded proud when speaking Evan's name. But of the three of them it seemed like Granger was the only one who had no idea about who Evan James really was. "Tell me, how you managed to get in here. I know that Evan has changed the wards so people can come in should I allow them."

Draco bowed to the ghost, having recognised the name. And although the Prince family had been one of the smaller pureblood families and this member of the family was long dead there were still rules which he had to follow.

"I apologies that we disturbed your peace. But we were dragged here by the one you know as Evan James." The ghost peaked up at the mention of Harry's alias. "Really, I thought that I had heard his voice but I was not sure. Where is he, I cannot see him?"

"The green eyed kitten is outside. He has already made sure that the silver snakes' kind cannot follow us through the floo and is now making sure that it will not happen by others means." The ghost looked at Lovegood with a bewilder expression. "Harry is outside." Draco explained. He turned slightly so he continued keeping the girls into his view. Despite Harry seemed to have accepted them it did not mean that Draco was going to stop being suspicious of them. After all he was a Slytherin, not some trusting Gryffindor.

"I see, as the ghost of the house I welcome you all." Draco nodded to the ghost. "As the heir of the Malfoy family I thank you for your hospitality." Now where the formalities where over and done with Draco allowed himself to look around again. It looked as if a griffin had been running wild through the room and a feeling in his gut told Draco that the rest of the place would not look much better. He wanted to find out what had made it look like this but first he had to find out why they had left the manor in such a hurry.

Draco suddenly paled. The dark lord would kill him for letting Harry leave the manor without permission. In the heat of the moment Draco had not thought much of it. But now he knew that he might very well have signed his own death warrant.

**)00(**

When Harry let his arms fall he was out of breath and sticky with sweat. Silently he swore to start warding more. Ever since he had been rescued from Hogwarts he had gone lax. If he wanted to survive this war he would have to toughen up. And afterwards he could start warding people's properties for Gringotts. That was if not either Dumbledore or Voldemort managed to kill him before that.

Thinking of the dark lord made Harry's temper flare. He could not believe the nerve of the man. Here he had thought that he actually meant something to the man. Of course he knew that Voldemort could not suddenly change the way he lead his side of the war, they had already had that discussion. But there had been no reason for Voldemort to treat with cursing him. All Harry had asked of him was to stop using that word. Granted he should probably not have used that jinx against Voldemort, especially not knowing the man's temper but Harry had thought that it would be easier for Voldemort to understand the message he was trying to give him.

Huffing Harry stamped in the ground, feeling the urge to hit something. Not bothering with fighting it Harry turned to face a thick tree next to him and hit it as hard as possible. Not caring about the pain he felt, Harry continued hitting the tree, imagining that it was Voldemort's face he was letting his anger out on.

"And what has the tree done to you since it deserves to be punished this way?" Harry paused at the drawling voice behind him. "Stay away."

"Or what, are you going to hit me?" The words reminded him too much of what he had said to Voldemort and Harry's breathing hitched. "No, but I want to be alone right now."

"And I want to know why we have left the dark lord's manor. So why do you not tell me? Or better yet, how about we go back to the manor? We are already in enough troubles as it is because we left."

Punching the tree again Harry grimaced. "I have no plans about seeing that thick headed, idiotic, narrow minded, son of a bitch with too many names again."

A pale and slender hand landed on his arm and a tug made Harry stumble backwards and away from the tree. When Harry tried to step forward two arms locked themselves around his chest, and stopped him from moving. "Draco, let go of me."

"Now where we are clear that you are not going to hurt me, I am going to stop you from hurting yourself further. Honestly Harry, have you seen your hands? It is lucky that they are not broken. Either way you need to get someone to look at them."

Following Draco's line of sight Harry winced when he saw how his hands looked. They were already covered in blood and had started to hurt now where he was aware of the damage done to them. He tried to clench his hands only to grimace in pain. "Perhaps you are right."

"Of course I am right. I am a Malfoy after all. Now let us get you inside. Meanwhile you can tell me what we are doing here instead of sitting inside the dark lord's manor and enjoying warm drinks."

Nodding Harry let Draco lead him back to the cottage. Suddenly he felt tired and drained of energy. If not because Draco was still holding him Harry was sure that his legs would have given out under him already. "I sat in Voldemort's outer chambers together with Hermione, we had been talking about different things when he suddenly came barging in. He looked angry and seemed ready to curse Hermione or even kill her on the spot. When he called her a mudblood I got angry and used a spell which I have seen Mrs. Weasley use on her children. It gives the feeling of soap in ones mouth. And believe me when I tell you that it is not a pleasant feeling."

**)00(**

Draco was not sure if he should be horrified or amused by the fact that someone had used that spell on the dark lord. It was a common jinx and even Draco had felt its effect a few times in his childhood. "Anyway, we started yelling and when I asked him if he would curse me, he said he would do it if that would make me listen to orders!"

The Malfoy heir did not need to listen to Harry's voice to know how much this was bothering him. "You said that you both were angry. Could it not be that the dark lord just let his mouth run?"

"That may be, but it does not mean that he had a reason or right to act like that towards Hermione."

Sometimes Draco did not understand why he tried to deal with Gryffindors. They seemed to be more troubles than they were worth. At the same time he knew that something had to be done. It would lead to no good if the dark lord and Harry were angry at each other.

"Try to think about how he must feel. When you were rescued from Dumbledore's clutches you were on the brink of death. We knew that your former friends had done it to you and the headmaster was in it to. Otherwise you have told us nothing."

"Damn it Draco, Hermione did nothing."

"And how were we supposed to know that?" Draco was surprised when Harry shook his head with a defeated look in his face. "What I mean is that she did not do anything at all. She did not harm me but neither did she help me. The one time she showed up she just looked on and after that I saw nothing of her."

Draco silently wondered if he should insist on being paid for this. When he had freed Harry he had not expected things to take such a turn. If this happened enough times perhaps he could make a career as a psychologist. His father would kill him before such a thing happened. If a Malfoy wanted to work it should be something which fitted their standard and especially not something muggle.

"From what I can see you have no reason to trust her. For all we know she might have come to stab you as soon as you turn your back to her. I would say it is not worth fighting with the dark lord over."

"Maybe, but Hermione gave me an Unbreakable Vow, and besides she is a friend. I am not saying that I trust her or anything like that, but I need all the help I can get. Hermione was the smartest witch in our year and I am sure that she will be a big help. She just has to let go of some of her prejudges about what is right and wrong."

"Perhaps there is still hope for you Harry." Draco found himself smiling when Harry laughed. Perhaps they would not end up dead because of the stunt the Gryffindors had pulled."

**)00(**

"Where is he?" Voldemort cursed. Pettigrew, who had been unlucky enough to enter the room when Voldemort found out that he could not follow Evan through the floo, lay on the floor whimpering. Voldemort sneered at the pitiful excuse for a wizard. The only reason to why he kept Pettigrew was because of the Gryffindor's animagus form which allowed him to get in where most people were unable to go. Other than that he had no use other than to ensure that Nagini got a little motion from time to time.

Ignoring the wimping mess on the floor Voldemort turned around and stalked upstairs. His previously good mood was gone now and he wanted nothing more than to curse someone. On the top of the stairs Voldemort paused and looked down. Evan had jumped down from this height without hesitation. It was wonder that he had not gotten hurt but Voldemort guessed that they could thank magic for that.

Shaking his head Voldemort continued his way back to his chamber. He wanted to find Evan, but at the same time he had to go back to his negations with the vampires. The only reason to why he had returned was because they had agreed on a short break. He would soon have to return, but at the same time Evan needed to be found before something happened to him.

Finding Severus inside his chamber Voldemort forced himself to calm down. He did not need to take his anger out on people who had nothing to do with it. The black haired man bowed his head before he returned to his unmoving stance. "Severus, I have a mission for you." He saw how the potion master raised an eyebrow in question. It was clear that the man expected to make yet another potion for him.

Taking off the necklace Evan had given him so long ago Voldemort reluctantly handed the jewellery over to the wizard. "Evan has run of together with Draco, a mudblood girl and the houseelves reported that there was a second girl with them. You will find them, if you cannot make him come back you will report back to me and I will take care of it myself."

The questions were clear in Severus' face as he took the necklace from Voldemort, but he did not ask them and Voldemort did not give any explanation.

"See that you do that. Remember, report back to me as soon as you know anything."

**)00(**

Harry ignored the glares Draco sent him as he continued cleaning the room with magic. Apparently the blonde thought that such works was far under the Malfoy standard and usually he had houseelves to do it for him. Harry on the other hand was more than happy to do this work. And if not because Hermione had bandaged his hands and ordered him not to use them too much he would gladly have done it the muggle way.

As it was Harry had already been working for hours on end, making it so the cottage looked more like it had once done. He had sent Hermione and Luna outside, being underage and unable to do wandless magic it meant that they could not do magic outside Hogwarts, and therefore would they be in the way for him. Unfortunately he had not been able to make Draco join them. When he had suggested to Draco that he should go outside the blonde had sent him the first of many glares before proclaiming that until they returned to the dark lord he would not be leaving Harry's side.

Out of the corner of his eyes Harry could see Hubert watching him. It seemed like he had two watchdogs since Hubert seemed intend of stalking him the whole time he was there.

A slap in the back of his head knocked Harry out of his thoughts and he turned to glower at the blonde who was wearing an annoyed expression. "Have you even heard a single word of what I have said, Harry?" Smiling slightly Harry crocked his head to the side. "So it was your voice I heard? Sorry, I thought it was an annoying fly. What was it you said?"

"I just asked when you have thought about returning to the dark lord's manor?"

"I am not going back."

The silence which followed convinced Harry that the talk was finished and he turned back to finish his work. A hand on his arm stopped Harry from following thought with that. "You cannot seriously mean that we will stay here. It is dirty, small and there are no houseelves. And what about food, and where will we be sleeping?" The nearly panicked tone in Draco's voice made Harry frown. "I thought that Luna and Hermione could sleep in my old room until they return to their homes."

"And what about me? Do not think that I will share a room with anybody. I am a Malfoy."

"I suppose you can have Tom's old room."

For some reason Harry did not like the thought of anybody sleeping in that room but he guessed that it could not be helped. There was no other room in the cottage which could be used for sleeping. "Show me the room." Nodding Harry led Draco upstairs. They had yet to see the room but from the last time he had been there Harry already knew what he was going to see. Unlike with the other rooms Voldemort had removed most of his belongings from there, leaving the room bare. Luckily the bed and a few other pieces of furniture were left in the room. Using a cleaning charm Harry deemed the room fine and turned around to face Draco who was standing in the doorway.

"I guess this is acceptable. But you have still not answered my question about what you are going to do about food." Harry closed his mouth. He was pretty sure that Voldemort would be searching for them which meant that if they walked outside the safety of the wards they would probably be found. But they still needed to get food somehow. "Draco, how does your family shop for food?"

"How can you even ask such a stupid question? No Malfoy would ever lower themselves to buy food. What do you think we have houseelves for?"

Harry could have hit himself. He should have known that a pureblood would never shop for food. And although Harry had no doubt that Dobby would have nothing against helping him he could not risk that Dumbledore would somehow find out. That left him with one possibility.

"Kreacher!" In the waiting time Harry fidgeted nervously. Although Sirius had made him his heir he had no warranty that the houseelf would listen to his call. It was most likely that the houseelf would rather ignore him than follow an order of his.

A pop sounded and the old and dirty houseelf cam to view in the middle of the small bedroom. "Disgusting little mudblood loving halfblood. Kreacher's mistress would have been ashamed to know that Kreacher is forced to serve an unworthy."

Sharing a look with Draco Harry cleared his throat, making the houseelf aware of their presence. Kreacher bowed to Draco, recognising a Malfoy when he saw one, before turning his attention to Harry. Harry stood still as he let Kreacher take in his new look. Harry knew he looked much different than the last time they had seen each other. Back then he had still been a naive who trusted everyone around him. Harry liked to think that he was smarter than back then. Not only that, but his looks had changed. Although it was not much Harry knew that the longer hair and the loss of his glasses changed him enough to make him harder to recognise.

While Kreacher was looking at him Harry was trying to figure out how he was going to make the houseelf follow orders. Especially his orders.

"As your new master, you will follow orders from me from now on, Kreacher." The houseelf sneered and was only too willing to put voice on his thoughts. "And why should Kreacher follow this halfblood's words? Mistress would have been horrified to know what poor old Kreacher is forced to serve. Blood traitors and halfbloods. The next thing will surely be a mudblood." Harry's patience finally snapped after listening to Kreacher for long enough. "Now you listen here, Kreacher. I am no half blood. Since both my parents were magical I am a first generation pureblood. My title is Harry James Potter-Black which means that I have every right to act as the lord. And I knew Walburga and Orion Black when they still attended Hogwarts. This is my home and they often met here with Tom and Abraxas to lay plans for their future. And if you still do not think that is enough you can contact Walburga and ask her who Evan James was. When you have finally realised that you are now my houseelf you will proceed to prepare food for me and my guests."

Kreacher disappeared without a word and left Harry and Draco alone in the room. "You never told me that you were the heir of two pureblood families." Shrugging Harry trolled out of the room, seeing that there was nothing more he could do there. "Actually I am the lord of two pureblood families and not just an heir. Normally I would be unable to call myself a lord since I am still underage but I reached seventeen back in the past so Ragnok was friendly and pulled in a few stings for me. With all the things which have happened I guess I just kind of forgot about it."

"Only you Harry."

"Of course, if it were anybody else it would not be me." They continued downstairs and Harry was pleased to see that dinner was already on the table. Hermione stood near the table, as if not sure if she should sit down while Luna had already taken seat and was waiting for the others to follow her example.

Harry took seat at the end of the small table, Draco sat down to his right, next to the blonde was Luna and at the farthest seat away from him was Hermione. Seeing the odd seating arrangement Harry frowned but did otherwise not comment on it. He figured that it was better than having Draco and Hermione sitting next to each other. It was something which he was not sure the cottage and he would survive. And Draco had made it clear that he did not trust Hermione so Harry guessed it only made sense that the blonde kept close to him.

After checking that Kreacher had not poisoned the food Harry started eating. The way the houseelf had followed his orders made him wary. Even if this continued Harry guessed it would take some time before he stopped feeling uneasy about it.

The dinner was spent in silence. Harry could feel the other teens watching him, probably waiting for him to break or something he did not know, and Harry ignored them while he ran their situation through his head.

After arguing with Voldemort he had not thought about much else than getting away. Knowing that he could not leave Hermione and Luna there he had taken them with him. And since Draco had been there Harry had just followed the flow and taken the blonde with him. The cottage was the only safe place he had so Harry had found it natural to go there.

Now he found himself with three teens in his care, where two of them were older than him and enemies. As far as he knew Voldemort probably wanted him dead, after all the man had killed people for less than what Harry had done. And he still had the Dumbledore problem to deal with.

Looking up Harry and Luna's eyes met and he felt an idea hit him. "Luna, your father still runs a news paper, right?"

"Yes, Harry. If you are interested I can get you an edition."

"That would be nice. But I was thinking what would your father say to put in an article about Dumbledore?"

"I am sure he will be interested. But you shall know that the Quibbler only writes the truth."

Grinning and ignoring the confused looks he got from a Slytherin and a Gryffindor Harry turned back to the meal on his plate. "Believe me, the truth is the only thing which I plan on telling."

**Sooo, this chapter kind of wrote itself. That is what happens when I cannot sleep. **

**Next chapter: Will Snape find Harry, will Voldemort be able to get his lover back and what will Dumbledore's reaction be to the article? Read on and you will find out. **

**Oh, and do you know any stories which is a must to read, please tell me. I miss something to read. Just remember, that Harry has to be one of the main characters in the story. **

**Until then and remember to review. Reviews are my inspiration. **


	22. Chapter 22

**Many were not happy with the way Harry ran away, sorry to say it, but it had to happen so the story could continue. I want Harry to play a bigger role, kind of, in the war and he would not be able to do so while being with Voldemort. Let us face it people, knowing what a trouble magnet Evan is there is no way Voldemort would let him end in a possible dangerous situation. **

**Thanks for the ideas to what stories I should read. I never thought that I would get this many, and I am still going through the list. **

**Beta: ****angelhitomie**

_Article/Letter… actually just written words. _

**Disclaimer: Not mine, but I can dream. **

A disturbance in the wards woke Harry from his deep sleep, alarming him that someone was trying to make their way through the wards. Yawning he sat up on the sofa and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. It was not long since he had finally managed to fall asleep. Although the sofa was comfortable to sit on it was not build to be used to sleep on.

Harry swung his feet over the edge of the sofa and winced when his feet came in contact with the cold floor. He would have to look after the spell which had been used in Voldemort's home. In none of the rooms he had been in there had been cold floor.

Wrapping the covers around his person Harry rose and yawned. He knew that he would have to find out what or who was causing the disturbance in the wards. At least it felt nothing like when Grindelwald had tried to get his attention and unless it was Voldemort or Dumbledore who was at the door Harry was sure that the wards would be able to keep the person at bay. Actually it felt more like an annoying prodding rather than a real attack. Unfortunately the wards did not tell him who it was, after all no one was supposed to know that he was there.

A shiver ran through his body when he stepped outside. Harry silenced Hubert with a look, letting the ghost know that he could take care of the trouble on his own, and closed the door behind him. Looking up Harry saw that the sky was free from clouds and the stars seemed to shine brighter than they normally would. Grimacing Harry looked away, the starts reminded him a little too much of the way Dumbledore's eyes twinkled and he wanted to avoid thinking of that for as long as possible.

Harry cast a warming charm on his bare feet and bandaged hands. Hermione would have his head if she knew he went outside without being properly dressed.

Closing his eyes Harry let his magic reach out and felt along the wards until he found where the disturbance was coming from.

Opening his eyes again Harry headed down the snow clean patch. Thankfully the small spell he had used on the patch to keep it clean from snow and leaves so many years ago still seemed to work as it was supposed to. He followed the patch until he had ended on the backside of the cottage. If someone wanted to attack him this would be the perfect place. Of course it would mean that they would have to get through the wards to do that.

Harry looked through the darkness, not seeing anything unusual. Despite the light the stars provided him with it was still too dark for him to see what had disturbed the wards and awoken him. For all he knew it was some of the children from Hogsmeade who wanted to see if they could get through the wards placed around the cottage. Like with the Shrieking House there was something hypnotizing about the forbidden or unknown. Harry had found himself enough times in such a situation to understand that.

"Potter show yourself instead of wasting both of our time. I have already spent enough time looking for you. Either you let me in or you come out here to me." As Snape spoke the man was lit up by a soft blue light. The potion master was dressed in thick winter robes, and Harry was not surprised to see that they were black. That and the black hair made the man disappear into the night. The blue light had probably been hid by a spell. "Potter, if you do not let me in right now you will end up cleaning cauldrons from now on and until the day of your death."

Reluctantly Harry lowered the wards so Snape could enter. He had a feeling that Snape was not bluffing.

Casting a lumus so Snape could see him Harry waited for the professor to approach him. Once Snape finally was standing in front of him, more like towering over him, Harry opened his mouth. "I am not going back." Snape raised an eyebrow and Harry felt himself blush despite the cold. "Really Potter, and what makes you think that I will have to listen to a word of what you say?"

"Before you get your wand the wards have already fallen back in place. They follow my command and can push you out of here before your brain registers what is going on. And believe me when I say that it is not a pleasant feeling."

Harry spoke calmly in spite of the tenseness in his body while he waited for Snape reply. "It seems like your manner are just as bad as you father's were, Potter. Are you going to stay out here all night or are you going to invite me inside?" Regardless of the man's biting tone Harry found himself smiling. "I like to think that I am my own person rather than a reincarnation of my parents. I honestly doubt that they had had to go through the same things as I."

"I see that you still think of yourself as better than everyone else, Potter."

He felt his smile widen and rolled his eyes at the man's words. "If you say so. Now, I do not know about you, but I do not like standing out in the cold. If you promise not to hurt any of my guests and not to let anyone in that I have not personally agreed o you are welcome to follow me."

"I only agree on this because it will be warmer inside rather than staying out here the whole night. But you have to work on how you are forming a deal, especially when you are dealing with Slytherins. You said nothing about me harming you or anything in your procession. And there are several ways which I could get you to agree on letting someone in on my wish."

When Harry turned around to walk back to the cottage he let go of his grip on the wards, knowing that there was no reason for him to throw Snape out now. Even with Snape's promise Harry was wary, knowing that there were a lot of people who would be pleased to have his head served for them on a silver platter. His job was to make it as hard as possible for them.

"So Voldemort sent you instead of going himself?" Harry was not sure what to think of this. On one hand he was disappointed that Voldemort seemed to just give up on him. At the same time it gave him time to order his thoughts and priorities, something which Harry needed to know if he should be able to make any real efforts in the war.

"Unlike you the dark lord is not free to come and go as he wants to. When you decided to leave he was forced to return to his meeting with the vampire clan." Harry made a sound in the back of his throat in understanding. At least it explained why Voldemort had not come for him as Harry had half expected him to do. "Instead, he gave me the necklace and sent me after you."

"With the way things are going you left him with no other choice. He also informed me that I should not come back before I had found you."

"Now you have fond me and while you are at it, please tell him that I am not going back."

"I am not your messenger boy."

Swiping around Harry came face to face with Snape. "That may be, professor. But I have my reasons for not wanting to return to him. Do you even know why I left?" When silence was the only answer he got Harry turned back around and stalked up the patch. He seriously needed some sleep before he tried to deal with this.

After a pause Snape followed after him, the man's long legs easily brought him up to Harry's side. "I will inform the dark lord of your intention tomorrow by owl. But you will explain to me what happened between you two. And I do not expect you to have a potion laboratory in your house where I can make the potions he requires." Looking over his shoulder Harry grinned. "Actually I do, but you will have to look at it yourself since I do not have the faintest idea if it is any good or not."

"To think I would live to see that day where a Potter admits that there is something he does not know."

The low tone told Harry that Snape had mostly spoken to himself and yet he found himself answering the comment. "For a spy you are not that observant. Otherwise you would have seen that I have changed. I am no longer the boy which you taught at Hogwarts."

"And thanks Salazar for that or I would have started to doubt Voldemort's sanity."

"But would it not entail him to have one before you can question it?"

**)00(**

_Albus Dumbledore Leader of the light?_

_Most of us have grown up with the story about how Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore__, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Chief Warlock of the International Confederation of Wizards, Order of Merlin First Class holder, Supreme Mugwump, and Grand Sorcerer, __defeated Grindelwald, the greatest dark lord until You Know Who._

_But two days ago I, Xenophilius Lovegood was contacted by Evan James who claimed otherwise, and also said he had proofs to support his story. Interested in seeing what those proofs were I agreed on meeting this man on a location which is kept a secret to protect the one I interviewed._

_XL: "Hello Mr. James."_

_EJ: "Hello, Mr. Lovegood. Please call me Evan. When someone uses my last name I feel like I should be looking for my after."_

_XL: "Very well, then you will have to call me Xenophilius. Now, from what your letter told me, you have something to tell me about headmaster Dumbledore?" _

_EJ: "Yes, but first are there anything you would like? I am afraid that this will take some time."_

_After getting the tea we were ready to start the interview._

_XL: "May I ask you what has made you decide to share your story now?"_

_EJ: "I have lived through two wars and I do not like the way this one is going. I think that people have a right to know who they are letting lead them and therefore I wrote to you."_

_XL: "But why now?"_

_EJ: "I have no real answer for that other than I thought that the time is right. I have lived a long life and I have seen much. I have been forced to stay hidden because of things which were out of my hands."_

_XL: "You told me that you have proofs that headmaster Dumbledore is not the light wizard we know." _

_EJ: "I guess it will be best if I start my story now. It all started one day in Diagon Alley. I saw Dumbledore go into Knockturn Alley together with a cloaked person. Curious I followed after them and it proved to be a good thing. You see, the cloaked person was actually Gellert Grindelwald, who was the leader of the so called dark side back then."_

_XL: "It is no secret that Grindelwald and headmaster Dumbledore were friends when they were children."_

_EJ: "That may be Xenophilius but as I said he was already the dark lord at that time. It means that he had already killed several people and was trying to overthrow the ministry. Besides, Dumbledore and Grindelwald were not just childhood friends but also lovers through a longer time." _

_XL: "But what proofs do you have that this really happened?"_

_EJ: "Unfortunately I have no proof for this. But your beloved leader cast the Killing Curse on me, luckily it missed, or I would not have been here today. But even back then the Aurors were keeping an eye on the spells and curses used in Diagon and Knockturn Alley. If you want to you can go and check out the archives. There you will see that Albus Dumbledore was arrested but later released because of the lack of proofs." _

_XL: "Why did you not step forth at that time?"_

_EJ: "I will say that it is a story for another time." _

_XL: "Anything else to support your claim about the headmaster?"_

_EJ: "I was approached by Grindelwald one night."_

_XL: "Really, what did he want from you, how did you survive and how can our readers now that you are speaking the truth?" _

_EJ: "You are welcome to get another wardmaker to check the wards and I was on the one side of them, while he was on the other side."_

_XL: "What happened?"_

_EJ: "He wanted me to join him, and I declined."_

_XL: "I take it that he did not take it kindly."_

_EJ: "You will be surprised. He more saw it as me not being ready and there he decided to give me a little time to think about his so called offer."_

_XL: "Interesting."_

_EJ: "I never claimed that it would sound sane or that he was. On the other hand, what defines saneness?"_

_XL: "A very good question, although I believe it is a little off the subject."_

_EJ: "I think you are right." _

_XL: "No harm done, but I was wondering. Until now what you have told is an interesting story but I think that our readers need a better proof if you want them to believe your story."_

_EJ: "Very well, what do you know about Grindelwald's death?"_

_XL: "It is in every history book. Grindelwald attacked Hogsmeade and Dumbledore defeated him while defending the students of Hogwarts and the people living in Hogsmeade."_

_EJ: "You see that is where everyone is wrong. I have no idea where Dumbledore spent his time under the attack of Hogsmeade but I know for sure that Albus Dumbledore was not the one who killed Grindelwald."_

_XL: "Really, who did it then?" _

_EJ: "I lived not far from Hogsmeade at that time, so I saw it when Grindelwald attacked the town. Since I have training in defence I decided to join the fight. A friend of mine claimed that I had a hero complex. She said I could not see anyone in troubles without rushing to help them. Once there I came face to face with Grindelwald, we fought because I declined his offer once again. I have to say that I am surprised that such a bad fighter can manage to become a dark lord. I would say that the only reason to why he came so far was because of luck and nothing else."_

_XL: "You want me to believe that not only headmaster Dumbledore supposed to be a liar but you were the one who defeated Grindelwald?" _

_EJ: "I am not telling you what to believe, but I am telling you what really happened. But if you check the statement over who died at that date you will see that Evan James, ward maker, is declared dead with Albus Dumbledore as a witness. Yet I am sitting here, alive and breathing. If that is not enough proof for you people then contact Gringotts they will be able to testify who I am." _

_XL: "But that was things he did years back in time. I think most people will agree with me, when I say that professor Dumbledore is nothing like that today."_

_EJ: "We all know that Dumbledore is a supporter of muggles and their rights, right?"_

_XL: "Yes, I believe it is common knowledge."_

_EJ: "But I wonder, is it really such a good idea? There must have been a reason to why our world hid itself from the muggle world in the first place."_

_XL: "The witches burning."_

_EJ: "Our ancestors watched the muggles and feared what they would do should the muggles ever find out about us. Dumbledore wants us to see the muggles as our equals, and while I agree with that, I do not believe that we will ever be able to live side by side."_

_XL: "So you share You Know Who's view on the war."_

_EJ: "No, I share the same point as Tom Riddle."_

_XL: "Who?"_

_EJ: "He was student at Hogwarts over fifty years ago, I adopted him when he had just finished his second year. Tom had many interesting ideas about the future. He thought of how we could make it all better. As the school system is right now, the muggleborns are pulling down those who have grown up in the Wizarding world. Unlike what Dumbledore claims are Voldemort's plans we should build a second school, where the muggleborns are introduced to magic in an earlier age. It will give them time to catch up to the pureblood children and make sure that they better understand the world they are a part of. Also it should also be so that people from the ministry check up on the muggleborns to make sure that their families are treating them right."_

_XL: "Is there a chance for me to meet this Mr. Riddle?"_

_EJ: "Unfortunately not. But I am sure that he will agree with this once he reads this article." _

_After that I bid Evan James goodbye, with a lot more to think about than when I first had been contacted by the man. So does Mr. James speak the truth? Did the greater leader of the light really follow Grindelwald? Was Mr. James the one who killed Grindelwald and why would Albus Dumbledore lie about it? To the next week's edition, I will hopefully have gotten an interview with Albus Dumbledore. Hopefully it will help with casting light over this mystery._

Voldemort slowly lowered the news paper, keeping his face expressionless. "I did not think of you as one of the readers to this kind of papers." Narcissa placed her teacup down on the desk. "Actually I am not. It was Draco who sent it to me this morning. I thought the article might interest you."

"Did he have anything else to report?"

The dark lord looked over at the owl which was sitting at the back of Narcissa's chair. Hedwig was glaring down at him and for some reason Voldemort had a feeling that the owl was not happy with the way he had treated Evan. As it was Draco and Severus were his only sources on how Evan was doing and before this article he had not heard a word from either of them since Severus had contacted him and told him that he had found Evan.

"Yes, Draco told me that they are all well although he finds the living conditions horrible small for a Malfoy. Unfortunately it does not seem like Evan is inclined to return. As a matter of fact I believe that the letter this owl is carrying is from him."

"You are allowed to leave."

Voldemort waited until the door closed behind Narcissa, she seemed to have taken an awfully long time with getting out of there, before he turned towards the owl. From where he sat he had a too good view of the owl's tail and beak. "Now listen here, I do not like you and I know that you do not like me. But we both care about Evan, so we will have to work together so he can return where he can be kept safe from harm."

Voldemort was sure he was going crazy when saw the owl nod. Perhaps Evan had been right when he had said that Hedwig was as smart as Ares had been. "Come here little bird, give me the letter your master has written to me." Voldemort nearly let out a shout of triumph when the owl landed on his table, but stopped himself so he would not scare the bird away.

He reached out for the letter, ignoring the way his hand shook lightly, it had nothing to do with the fact that it was a letter from his Evan. A shout forced itself over his lips when the owl closed its beak around one of his fingers. Voldemort bit back the urge to punish the bird for its action. Cursing Evan's bloody bird was not the way to get his lover back to him.

"Bloody bird, hand that letter over to me right now!" Groaning Voldemort hid his face in his hands. "Have I really fallen so low that I am arguing with a bird now?" Of course nobody answered him, but apparently the bird felt sympathy for him and let him take the letter in his fifth attempt. Sitting back in the chair he opened the letter and the sight of Evan's handwriting greeted him.

_Voldemort_

_Assuming that you have not cursed Hedwig I kindly ask you to refrain from doing it. If you find it too hard to comply you will either have to find another owl or give an Unbreakable Vow that she will stay unharmed, no matter what kind of news she brings you._

_I cannot say that I am sorry for what I said and did. If I did I would be lying, and we both know that I must not tell lies. All you need to know for now is that I am safe and well. Since both Snape and Draco are with me I am sure that you already know where I am. Just so you know it, I meant what I said. I will be a part of the war, and I will help as much as I can. But you cannot expect me to follow orders as one of your death eaters. According to the prophecy you marked me as your equal. It means that you cannot act all high and mighty around me._

_We can arrange a meeting where we discuss our roles in the war but right now I think it will be best for both of us if we stay away from each other. I hope you like the article and I think the sales of the Quibbler will be going up. Wonder what Dumbledore's answer will be._

_Harry Potter aka Evan James_

_P.s. did you know that Hubert and Snape are related? Apparently Snape's mother was Hubert's little sister. _

Voldemort sat for a long time without moving and just stared at the letter in his hand. If Evan thought he could turn around like this he could think again. But Voldemort would give them both some time to cool off before he took action.

**)00(**

Albus' facial expression was caught in a mix between true horror and shock. He already knew that it would be bad when he had read the name of the one who had been interviewed to the article. But it did not stop him from choking on a lemon drop when he first started reading the article.

Of all the things Potter could have done Albus would never have expected the boy to go to the news papers. He knew how much Potter had disliked the Daily Prophet for all the articles the news paper had printed about him and had figured that it meant that the boy would dislike all of that kind. And it was quite a Slytherin move from the boy's side. But it only strengthened his theory about Potter being evil. After all he had done for the boy this was how he thanked him. Next time he got his hands on Potter there would be no foreplay. He would kill the boy so he would be able to move on with the rest of his plan.

Instead of setting the news paper on fire Albus calmly folded it and placed it on the table. The picture on the front page was with what he guessed was the disguise Potter had decided to use to make him look like an old Evan James. He noted that the boy had borrowed some inspiration from the crazy Malfoy lord. By mixing that the Black silver eyes with his Potter looks and aging himself naturally it would only be a few numbers that would know that this boy was Harry Potter. And since everyone else than a desired few knew that the brat was still alive it was narrowed down to him.

Albus' eyebrow twisted at the arguing people around him. They were holding an Order meeting; once again they had ended up in the Weasley's kitchen. How he missed Grimmauld Place. But once they had come out of the war in victory he guessed that it would no longer matter. At that time there would be much greater places open for him. No longer would he have to spend his valuable time in small kitchens.

Looking around Albus took in the people whom had come to the meeting. The whole Weasley family, not counting the youngest four and Percy, since the twins were dead and the two others were up in their rooms, were there. Even Bill and Charlie Weasley had come home to spend the Christmas with their family. Minerva was sitting next to him, Mad eye Moody was standing in one of the darker corners, and how the man had managed to find such a thing in the Burrow Albus had no idea about. Tonks was sitting next to Charlie Weasley her appearance changing to show the confusion she was feeling.

The rest of the Order's people were there too, staring at him and waiting for him to say something. Albus knew that most of them had already read the article and those of them who had not had been told about it by someone they knew.

The brat really thought that such an article would damage his reputation. Still Albus could not help but feel slightly uneasy. With the way things were going in this school year it seemed like everything was against him. More people had stopped listening to him, both at the Order meetings, but the minister had also stopped contacting him and asking for help with this and that. It was the minority but Albus feared that the tendency might spread. He had to do something to stop that. It would have been so much easier if Riddle had not stopped his random attacks. When people lived in fear they were more likely to look for someone to look up to.

And who had been perfect for that but the one who was known as the defeater of Grindelwald? At least that was until this article had come out.

"Would you like a lemon drop?" Albus ignored the looks he got from the people around the table. At least this was an effective way to make them shut up and listen to him. "No thank you headmaster." Albus nodded and although he knew what they were going to talk about he wished that he could use Legilimency. Unlike Severus Minerva was no master in Oclumency but with the war going on, she had her shields up, even at times where she would have allowed herself to relax. It was enough to she would notice it if he tried to snoop around in her mind.

"I, like so many others have read the Quibbler." Only years of training stopped him from reacting visible. "Yeah, although where Xenophilius has gotten such an idea from." He trailed of and smiled behind his beard when several of the Order members visible relaxed at his words. "So there is no truth in this?" The matriarch of the Weasley family asked, her voice sounding hopeful. "Of course not my dear. It seems like someone has bound him a story on the sleeve."

Slowly Minerva nodded. Albus let out a small breath he had been holding, knowing that they trusted his word. He could not risk losing more people than he already had. He needed the support, especially the few purebloods which there where. "He did seem a little confused when he was a student back at Hogwarts." Minerva said and Albus saw several others nod around the table. Many of them knew of either Mr. Lovegood or his daughter who went to school now. "Yes, but let us not judge dear Xenophilius because of this. I am sure he has not thought about what it actually was he wrote. And there are not that many people who read this Quibbler anyway."

"You see headmaster that is the problem. Someone send enough editions for the whole school to read." Albus hid a scowl at Minerva's words. No one had informed him of this and he had not been down to breakfast because of things he had had to arrange. "The wards should have stopped such a thing from happening." Bill Weasley said, being a curse breaker but Albus shook his head. "The wards only stop something from getting in with the post if it could be harmful for the persons in the castle."

Truthfully, the article had been harmful to his reputation. But already having a good feeling about who was behind this he was sure that Potter had found a way around this. After all, the article had not done any bodily harm. But only a good ward maker could fool those wards, and, although he hated to admit it, Potter knew what he was doing. After all, all those purebloods would not have hired him if not because he was good at his work.

"Very well, I will speak to the student body tomorrow and then again when the others return from Christmas break. I will also arrange an interview with the Daily Prophet. We have to stop this before people start to get any funny ideas. Minerva, I would like you to contact Xenophilius, see if you can find out where this interview was made and who this really was with. Whoever came up with this has a sick humour and has to be stopped!"

When they ended the meeting Albus stood from the chair, suddenly feeling every year he had lived on his body. It seemed like Potter had decided to stir up troubles. The brat should just have stayed dead when he killed him. It would have spared him from all those troubles.

**)00(**

Harry buried his head in the pillow he had conjured, groaning through the noise in the room. He should have known that putting so many people into a so small place would never have been a good idea. The cottage was not build for roaming a larger number of people for a longer time. But it was not like he had an other choice.

Of course he had Grimmauld Place which he had inherited from Sirius but Harry wanted to avoid the place as much as possible. The thought of Sirius did no longer bother him the same way as it once had done, but Grimmauld Place still creped him out, no doubt about that. Also, the Order knew about the house, and he had no way of knowing if Dumbledore had a way to sneak into the building. He could replace the wards around the place with his own, but that would mean that he would have to take the old wards down before he could set his own up. That would make them visible to muggle and wizard alike, a risk Harry was not willing to take. Therefore it was much better to stay where he knew they would be somewhat safe, although it was a little penetrated.

Lifting his head Harry looked around in the living room with bleary eyes. Hermione and Draco were sitting across each other, making a big job out of ignoring each other. They glared at each other shortly before turning their eyes back to the books they were reading. Luna sat next to him, reading the newest edition of the Quibbler, upside down of course. She seemed uncaring about the argument which had just ended. Snape had decided that the potion laboratory needed further preparations before the last of the man's things arrived. Harry guessed it was just the man's way to get away from the pair. Harry wondered if he should have gone with Snape. Listening to the potion master's snarly voice would have been far better than sitting in the room with those two when they had been bickering.

Hubert had taken up following Snape around, exited at the fact that he had a living relative. Although Snape did not seem as thrilled he listened politely as the ghost told stories from its very short life. Harry could understand Snape. It had to be nice to have someone to tell you about one of your parents. Perhaps he should ask Remus the next time he saw the werewolf.

Letting his face fall back into the pillow Harry sighed deeply. He felt tired, having given the sofa up for Snape who had slept on it instead of him. Instead he now spent most of the night out in the kitchen, trying to find out what to do now. Harry knew that a simple article would not be able to change people's opinion about Dumbledore. He was sure that some had looked into the things he had talked about. But even then too many trusted the old goat too much and it would take more than an unknown person's words to make them see the truth. Besides, he had kept a few things back to keep himself and Tom safe. Telling too much could easily be turned against them, especially by those people who knew the truth.

Shaking his head to clear it from thoughts Harry slowly sat up, a grin spreading on his face. Looking over at the two Harry saw that both were too focused on their homework to pay any attention to him. Snape should have known better than to leave it to Draco and Hermione to look after him and Luna. Together they could have been impossible to sneak away from but because of the lack of friendship between them they distracted each other in their attempts to ignore the other.

"I am going out." When none of them reacted he turned to the fourth person in the room. Winking to Luna who nodded back to him, Harry disappeared out of the living room. Outside the door to the basement he paused. Despite the wards he had placed on the room when Snape had claimed it well enough for his use, the sound of muffled voices reached his ears. It sounded like they were in some deep conversation and Harry doubted that they would realise he was gone for the first long time.

Wrapping a dark cloak around himself Harry stepped outside and closed the door behind him. It was snowing softly outside, not enough to keep inside but enough to that people would not be suspicious of how heavy he was dressed. Harry transfigurated his socks into boots and started following the patch down to Hogsmeade.

He walked quickly down the path, wanting to get fast to his desired place but it also helped him with keeping himself warm. He tucked his hands deep into his pockets, feeling the pouch of money he had hidden in there when he left the cottage.

As he had expected there were only a few people outside at this time of the day. Mostly children who were playing around in the snow, and some grownups whom were keeping an eye on the kids. Harry noted that those over seventeen had their hands near their wands. They knew that Voldemort was back and they probably feared an attack would come when they least expected it. Rolling his eyes Harry continued walking. He doubted much that Voldemort would do such a thing. It would just drive people to Dumbledore's side in their need for protection.

Ignoring the glared he got Harry kept his head down as he walked. He regretted into taking anyone with him. But the four others were, more or less, all known figures in the town and there was the risk that words would come back to Dumbledore. Besides what he had planned would work far better if he was alone rather than if he had someone with him. And it was not like he needed someone to look after him.

Harry found the Hog's Head without any problems. Harry had walked the way many times before. Both as Harry Potter but also as Evan James. As he had expected many people were already in there, enjoying the warmth and sharing the latest gossip. Listening in shortly Harry was pleased to note that much of it was about Dumbledore. Harry guessed that it was no surprise. It was a big subject and many people found it better to discuss rather than the current war.

Spotting the one he had been looking for near the fireplace Harry pulled his hood back. Although he knew he had changed he had still placed a few small glamours on himself. Not enough that people would notice them but enough to change his own look. Mixing the green in his eyes with brown, letting himself get freckles and a few winkles all did a great job. As a last detail Harry had enlarged the scar on his face, until it no longer looked like a lightning bolt. Now it stretched from the middle of his forehead and down to the edge of the tip of his nose. Harry doubted that anyone would recognise him when passing him on the street. Now he only had to see if it could pass when being close to someone he had know.

Calmly Harry made his way through the crowd. His eyes were focussed on the big body which stood out from the others. The half giant sat slouched in a chair which seemed much too small for his big body and which protested every time the man moved. Already several big and empty cups were on the table in front of him, hinting that he had gotten plenty to drink already. Hagrid looked so different from the last time Harry had seen him, On the other hand the last time Harry had seen Hagrid his old friend had been nothing more than a teen. At least he had a beard now. But seeing Hagrid now was like seeing him back in the time as Beleza. The man would simply never be able to hide in a crowd. He had a wild mane of hair surrounding his face and head. The moleskin jacket had more pockets than was normal, and Harry knew that Hagrid could hide nearly everything in them. It made him wonder if the half giant's pockets were bottomless.

Would you mind if I sat down here? All the other seats are taken." Harry met Hagrid's gaze head on. The half giant's eyes were without the warm glint he usually had when they had met. Harry guessed that it was natural since Hagrid did not recognise him. "Of course." Sending Hagrid a smile Harry sat down on the free chair.

Ordering a drink for himself Harry looked back at Hagrid who had yet to look away from him. The way the man frowned Harry knew that Hagrid was trying to get his brain to work despite of the alcohol he had gotten until now. "Do I now you?" Hagrid's voice was muffled thanks to the drinks he had gotten before Harry had arrived. In his silent mind Harry thanked the spells placed around the table which allowed one to converse in privatize and dampened the noise around them a little. "Perhaps we have met once. I have not been in town for a while."

Hagrid nodded, the big bead dancing to the movement. "Of course, my name is Rubeus Hagrid."

"Evan." Unlike Hagrid Harry offered no last name. It was too risky with his name having been in the news paper. He was just thankful that Hagrid was too drunk to think that he was the one who had been interviewed. But with the amount of alcohol Hagrid had consumed Harry guessed that he should not really be surprised. "You are the professor in Care of Magical Beings and Creatures!"

"Who told you that?" Harry could not help but flinch at the hard voice when Hagrid snapped at him. It seemed like he had learned to be more suspicious of strangers or perhaps it was just because Harry had never gotten to see this side of him before.

"My cousin attends Hogwarts. He is a Hufflepuff fourth year, he has often mentioned your lessons in his letters." Harry was not quite lying. With all the inbreeding in the Wizarding world he could very well have a cousin in Hogwarts. And the boy could very well have been writing about Hagrid and the lessons in his letters, of course Harry had never received such a letter but he saw no need for Hagrid to find out about that. "I myself have been interested in creatures for a long time. I mean is there anything more fascinating than studying a creature in its natural surroundings? Such as an Acromantula, to me they are just misunderstood creatures, and yet so many people fears them. I am sure that if people took their time and got to know them they would see the truth."

For the first time Harry was thankful that he had listened so closely when Hagrid had talked about his fascination for different kinds of creatures and magical beings. Visible the other wizard began to relax and even began to nod and come with his own inputs as they proceeded from Acromantula to other beings, both which Hagrid taught about in his classes, and the ones who lived in the Forbidden Forest.

Harry suddenly understood why it had been so easy for Voldemort to get information out of Hagrid in Harry's first year. With a little alcohol in the blood and a few friendly words and some real interest Hagrid's tongue seemed to gain a will on its own. Harry nearly felt bad about using Hagrid like this, after all the half giant had been his first friend and had saved him from the Dursleys. But Harry needed information and the best and fastest way to do so was through Hagrid.

Remembering how Hagrid had reacted at their first meeting where Vernon had spoken badly about Dumbledore Harry wisely did not approach that subject. Hagrid might have been a good friend, and Harry would be sad if he should die, but he also knew that there would be no way for him to convince Hagrid of turning his back to the headmaster. To Hagrid Dumbledore could do nothing wrong. Nothing Harry did or said would ever change that.

Instead Harry decided to enjoy the time he shared with Hagrid. He ordered them both butterbears and managed shortly to forget that they were actually considered enemies. Also, it would be few times he could really enjoy his time like this from now on. Taking part in the war meant that there was lot for him to do. And with what Hagrid had told him plans had already started to take form in Harry's head.

Realising how late it had gotten Harry was surprised that no one had come to drag him back to the cottage. Since Luna was the only one who knew where he had gone they were probably panicked by now. Stretching in his chair Harry sighed. "Well, it has been nice to talk to you, but I am afraid I have to go. It is either that or get dragged back by my ear, something which I would like to avoid." Harry grinned at the image, he could easily see Draco or Hermione do that. Snape, on the other hand, would glare at him until Harry followed the unspoken order. Hagrid nodded, the half giant's bead bobbing in step with the big head. "Of course. Say hello to your cousin, what did you say the name was?" Hagrid slurred, his eyes slightly unfocused. Harry smiled and placed enough money on the table to pay for his own and those drinks Hagrid had gotten until now. "I will do that. Perhaps we will see again."

There were fewer people in the Hogs Head compared to when Harry first had arrived. Not only that but those were the more shaggier types which normally only came out when it was dark, much like in Knockturn Alley. Harry ignored them and instead focused on getting his feet to carry him safely out of the place. He did not want to draw any attention to him. Instead he just wanted to get back to the cottage and sleep out the alcohol.

Outside it had become dark and it was still snowing, although a little heavier than when he had walked into the Hogs Head. With a sigh Harry pulled the hoot of his cloak up, covering his head and laying his face in shadows. Humming out of tune Harry turned right and begun to make his way down the street. After the drink he had gotten light headed but right now it felt like he would be able to do anything he wanted to. Harry silently wondered if he should try to test if he had abilities to fly without a broom. Deciding that he was too tired for that right now Harry settled on trying it tomorrow after he had rested.

Grinning to himself Harry stumbled through the high snow, spreading his arms out to help himself with staying on his feet. When narrowing his eyes and tilting his head to the side he could actually imagine the snow being clouds. He started walking faster, wanting to see if he could move as fast as he did on his Firebolt.

Feeling himself being watched Harry frowned. He was out of Hogsmeade and knew that no one else lived in this direction, so no one had a reason to follow after him. Dismissing it as unimportant Harry continued walking as if not having a single care in the world. He stayed at the path, even in his drunken state he knew better than to walk away from it when it was this dark.

Harry suddenly found himself swept off of his feet, too fast for his alcohol influenced brain to register what was going on before it was too late. An arm was wrapped around his midsection while the free hand laid on his throat, effectively keeping him still when he felt the sharp nails dig into the soft skin on his neck. Harry was breathing his soft huff, trying to control the small spike of fear he felt and calm down his thumping heart. The man, with the other's body pressed so closely against his backside Harry could clearly tell that it was a male, had moved too fast to be fully human.

"What is such a pretty little human doing here all on your own? Are you not aware of how dangerous it can be for a pretty little thing as you to walk around alone?" As the person spoke he licked the skin on Harry's throat, like a cat would drink its milk. "Your blood smells sweet and I know that it will taste good despite you not being a virgin. You smell so powerful. I am glad that I waited until you came out instead of following those others. You may be smaller but I am sure that there are more than enough of you to satisfy my hunger."

Harry's eyes widened and he heard the man chuckle behind him, it made the chest against his back vibrate. "It seems like you have figured out what I am, little one."  
"Vampire." Harry breathed, remembering the encounter he had had with the one in Knockturn Alley together with Tom. Then he realised what the man behind him had called him. "I am not little, it just all you others who are freaky tall." Harry huffed, ignoring how childlike and slurred his words sounded. "Of course not, you are a sweet, petite, little one, I am sure that you blood will taste good."

Trying to yank himself free, he wanted the man to stop calling him little, but it was rather hard when they were in this position, Harry realised that the arms around him were like steel. The pressure on his stomach would surely leave a bruise tomorrow, if he was alive at that time.

"You are stupid if you drink my blood." Harry suddenly said with a singsong voice and a smirk which looked like a satisfied cat. "Really and why is that?" The vampire sounded uninterested, as if he had had plenty of victims before which had begged him not to drink their blood. Perhaps he expected that Harry would beg him not to complete his actions. At the same time he sounded slightly amused. He was so different from the one Harry had encounted before. Almost like a werewolf on the wolfbane potion, if he should compare this situation to anything. "How is the negation with Voldemort going?" To Harry's surprise the vampire did not flinch when he spoke the dark lord's name. He guessed that he had to give him points for that.

The grip around his throat tightened until Harry had to fight to breathe. "And just how have you gotten your hands on such information, little one?" The hand around his throat squeezed and Harry fought to force air into his lungs. "Cannot breathe." The hand relaxed slightly but the grip was still painful and too tight for him to get away. But Harry had gone through worse things than being a little too tightly so he guessed that he was in no position to complain.

"Be a good little boy and answer my question little one." The mouth was so close that he felt the breath wash over his ear and Harry shivered by a combination of the cold and the feeling the action gave him. "It would be a lot easier if you would be nice and let go of me." A low growl sounded and Harry sighed. It had been asking, he doubted that anyone could blame him for that. "Fine." Harry grumbled and crossed his arms the best he could. "Just to be sure, you are one of Voldie's allies, right?" Harry knew it was rather late to ask that but he blamed it on the alcohol he had consumed together with Hagrid.

Feeling the vampire nod behind him Harry decided that it was a good enough answer for him. "My name is Evan James and I am one of Voldie's allies." He giggled at the nickname. He honestly doubted that Voldemort would like the new name he had come up with for him. The vampire let go of his neck and lifted his sleeve enough to look at Harry's left arm. Harry followed what he guessed was the vampire's line of sight and starred at the pale skin which seemed to shine in the dark. "You bear no dark mark." Rolling his eyes Harry elbowed the vampire although it did not have the wished effect. Moaning lowly Harry knew that he was going to have yet another bruise added to the ones he had already gotten. "Idiot, I am ally, not one of his mindless followers. I bet you are not carrying his mark either."

He stared towards where he knew the cottage was. Since the wards were cobbled to him he was able to see through them. But no light was lit in the windows and therefore he saw nothing else than pure darkness. None of them knew where he was. And he had taken the necklace from Snape to give it to Luna when none of the others had been around to see it.

"Perhaps I should contact lord Voldemort to make sure that you are not speaking untrue to me." Harry's body froze. If the vampire contacted Voldemort, the dark lord would probably insist that Harry was brought back to him. Despite the few days he had been away and even in his drunken state Harry knew that he could not go back just yet.

"You cannot do that!" Both the vampire and Harry were startled by the force the words came out with but the vampire was showing it less than Harry himself. "And why is that, little one?" Sharp tooth scraped over the skin on his neck and Harry was started to get annoyed. The vampire was starting to do a good job on distracting him. He would lie if he claimed that he did not enjoy the attention shown to his body, but Harry was not about to let a vampire have its way with him. "Because Voldie and I had an argument and I have not forgiven him. He was rude." Harry huffed, not caring about how childish he sounded. "And what was that argument about?"

The question made him sombre up a little and Harry pouted. "He called Mione a mudblood and when I used the mouthwashing jinx on him he got mad at me. So I took Mione and the others and left and now I do not want to go back." To his surprise Harry found himself gently lowered to the ground. "Do not worry, little one, I will not take you to lord Voldemort tonight. I think I will late you live little one, something tells me that you are going to be a great amusement for me later on."

Lips were shortly pressed against his own and Harry's eyes widened. Other that Voldemort the only one who had ever kissed him was Cho, and she had been using him to forget about Cedric. Harry guessed that his parents had also kissed him but they did not count since he did not remember them. Before he could protest the vampire was already gone, leaving him standing alone out in the cold night. "Only Voldie is allowed to that." Harry grumbled. "Wonder what he would say to that name, perhaps I should call him it the next time I see him?"

Shrugging Harry started to make his way back to the cottage, debating with himself if he should try to figure out what had happened or simply push the whole thing to the back of his mind.

**)00(**

Severus Snape was everything else than amused. He had ben disturbed in the middle of a delicate potion he had been brewing with loud yells from upstairs. Wanting to know what was going on, since the potion was already ruining, he had walked upstairs. There he had found his godson and Ms. Granger discussing loudly about whose fault it was that Potter had gone missing.

It was Ms. Lovegood who had informed them all that Potter had gone a secret mission and would return safely sometime this day. Since he no longer the necklace the dark lord had borrowed him, the brat had taken it from him while Hubert had been distracting him, and had no idea where the brat had hidden it, it did not even respond when he tried to summoned it, Severus had been forced to accept the girl's words. He had decided to wait. He had been a spy for enough years to know how much could go wrong if someone suddenly came bragging in. If Potter was not back at the appointed time Severus would contact the dark lord, no matter the consequences he would have to face for losing the dark lord's lover.

Right on the clue the door opened, Severus grip around his wand tightened, thankful it was as dark inside as outside. Not only was he hidden from view in the shadows but he could also better see outside. Potter's small form was leaning heavily against the doorframe, breathing slowly and dressed in a dark cloak which looked much like the ones Severus himself usually wore. "And where have you been Mr. Potter?" Potter stepped back, the boy's body suddenly tense and Severus raised an eyebrow, silently wondering about what he happened to make the boy react like this.

"Snape." The half slurred voice made him raise an eyebrow, although it was too dark in the entry for the boy to see that. "You are drunk Mr. Potter." In the dark he saw the boy shake his head. "Yes, I think. But I am not Potter. My name is Evan James and I am a ward maker." The boy stepped forth again and it was only Severus' quick reflexes which stopped the youngest from landing face first on the floor. "You are nice." Severus snorted. "I believe you are the first of my students to ever say such a thing, Mr. Potter."  
"I am Evan. Say after me, E V A N, Evan. It is actually my mother's maiden name. That is why I chose it. James because it is my father's and it would have sounded stupid with Evan Evan's." Severus rolled his eyes when the boy broke out in a giggling fit. "Of course, Pot- Evan. Now come with me, I do not plan on dealing with you all night when you are like this. And be quiet, I do not want the others to wake up."

He felt Potter nod but the boy made no move to move himself away from him. "He was soundless when he left to."  
"Who did, Evan."  
"I do not know." Was the mumbled answer he got. "He never told me his name, rather rude considering that he wanted to kill me." Severus had started leading the boy into the living room but froze at the words. "What did you say?" He did not bother with keeping the disbelief and shock out of his voice. There was no one else around and with the state Potter had gotten himself into he doubted that the by would be able to remember much in the next morning. "Perhaps he did not really want to kill me, but he wanted to drink my blood."  
"A vampire."  
"Yeah, and he called me little one. I am not small, it is just that everyone else is so much taller than me."

They came into the living room and Severus guided the boy over to the sofa and made him lay down. "How did you get away alive." When a vampire wanted to drink your blood next to nothing could make it change its mind about it. "Told him that I knew Voldie, although I am mad at him, at he promised not to take me to Voldie. Did you know that the vampires are with him now? I am still mad at him but I am glad?" Potter looked up and black eyes looked directly into stunning green ones, which reminded him much of Lily Evan's eyes. "Life is unfair."  
"I am shocked that you first have figured it out now, Evan."

The boy shook his head. "No, I have known it for a long time, but it changes nothing. Thanks to the stupid prophecy." Severus, who had been working on getting the boots off of Potter's feet froze at the boy's words. "You know of the prophecy?" He had been the one to deliver the prophecy to the dark lord, but he had been discovered before he could find out the whole content. "Nuhu, Dumb, Duble... the stupid man told me when Sirius had died. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies ..."

The small boy's eyes slid close and a soft mumble escaped his lips as he curled himself into a protective ball. Severus stood hovering over the boy like he had done a few time when the boy had been in his care. When like this it was impossible to believe how much chaos the boy could make while being awake. Telling himself that it was because he did not want to deal with Potter having a cold Severus tugged the boy in.

Severus sat back in the armchair with a frown. This was the first time he heard the full content of the prophecy and suddenly he understood Potter's worry. From what he could see there was different ways that the prophecy could turn out. Voldemort would kill Potter, or the other way around, or they would both die. As it was he was no longer sure who he would support if it came to that.

His frown deepened when he realised that Potter took up the place where he usually slept. In those days he had spent with the children Potter had gone to bed after them and had been up when Severus himself rose from sleep. Perhaps he had tranfigurated a bed for himself to sleep on. Nonetheless Severus swore he would keep a better eye on the brat from now on.

Seeing that the clock had already passed midnight Severus decided to go to sleep. Wrapping his cloak around his body Severus leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. He could continue his interrogation of Potter tomorrow. It was clear that he would get nothing out of the boy tonight and he had yet to figure out what had happened in the time where Potter had left the cottage and until the vampire had attacked the boy.

**Next: Actually, I have no idea, we will just have to see what my brain comes up with. **

**Now to the sad news, in two weeks I am going to move so I have no idea about when the updates will come but please be patient, I will write whenever I get time for it. **


	23. Chapter 23

**Sorry about the delay but moving from one place to another took far longer than I had thought it would. **

**Disclaimer: Search through pocket but gives up with a sigh. *Sorry people, until I figure out where I have placed the rights to Harry Potter it still belong to J.K. Rowling.**

**Beta: ****angelhitomie**

Ever since his turning he had found himself watching the mortals, muggles and wizarding kind alike. Although wizards and witches tended to live longer than their non-magical counterparts it was still nothing when it was compared to the life of a vampire. But no matter how much time passed to him it did not seem like humans would ever change. They did not learn from their past mistakes no matter the consequences which came out of it. They went to war and killed each others before they managed to get themselves killed. They hated, they loved, they cried and they believed themselves different and better than anyone else.

But Sanguini knew better. Through his long life he had watched the human kind. Like the rest of his kind he only interacted with humans when he hunted or if someone caught his interest. But once in a while someone who was different enough to catch his attention popped up and Sanguini would follow the person, mostly from afar but sometimes he would get closer while he watched them through their short life. As a guardian angel, as he once had been called. Because of his unchanging appearance it was impossible for him to play a important in the person's life unless they belonged to the Wizarding world. At least it had him occupied for a few handfuls of years.

He had attended Horace Slughorn's belated Christmas party because he had had nothing better to do for the time being. Although he did not care much about this human he had found out that Mr. Slughorn seemed to have a talent for finding the interesting types which got him away from the boring everyday life, for a little while at least.

Unfortunately this had not been the case this time. If this were the interesting and powerful youth of the human kind from Hogwarts things were looking dark for the future. No one had been deemed worthy of his time and Sanguini had left much sooner than he normally would have done. Knowing the host as he did it was unlike that that Slughorn would notice that he had left the small party so early. By this time the potion maker would be working on either building or strengthening his connection with the so called children of the future.

On his way out of the castle Sanguini had started feeling the hunger plaguing him. Knowing better than to attack one of the students or one from the staff, it would have been a mistake a newly turned vampire would make, not one who had lived as long as he had. Luckily there had been a town not far from the castle and to make it better it was a Wizarding town. Sanguini found himself enjoying the blood of a witch or wizard rather than that from a muggle. The hunt normally left a thrill in his body and blood mixed with magic generally tasted better than that which was untouched by magic.

He had not thought that the one he had picked as his prey had proved to be one who could keep his attention captured. This Evan James was actually the reason to why he found himself heading towards lord Voldemort's manor despite the late time and the knowledge that people would usually be sleeping right now. He wanted some answers and experience told him that the best way to get them would be to go after the one he knew would have them.

The wards let him in without any hesitation and Sanguini knew that lord Voldemort was aware of his presence. Speeding up Sanguini moved faster than any mortal would ever be able to. In no time he found himself in front of the impressive front doors. The doors opened, silently granting him permission to enter and Sanguini stepped inside, this time using a human pace so he would not shock anyone who might be inside. He did not fancy getting attacked just because someone was surprised. At least he had feed before coming here so there was little to no chance that he should feel the need to suck someone dry for their blood.

He stopped in front of the houseelf who nervously stood waiting for him. The shabby creature was tugging its own ears and looking anywhere else than at him. "Master lord Voldemort is waiting was master vampire sir in the meeting hall, master vampire sir."  
"Very well, inform your master that I will be there in a few seconds." The houseelf popped away as soon as he had finished the sentence.

Sanguini gave the houseelf time to inform its masters about his arrival before speeding towards the meeting hall. Having been there once before the mansion became lord Voldemort's he still remembered how the inside looked. One could always trust the Wizarding kind to never change. He found the doors open for him and stopped when he was in the middle of the room. Sanguini heard the doors close behind him but ignored them in favour of looking at the only other person in the room.

Like so many others Sanguini had heard the rumours about lord Voldemort's resurrection. The man had been more snake than a man, a cruel person the vampires would never even have considered joining forces with. Even if they were vampires and nothing more than beasts in the society's eyes there were still things that they did not agree with. But the person in front of him was nothing like that. Instead Sanguini was facing a wizard in the blossom of his youth. A beautiful man, who seemed to shine with power. It was this sudden change which had intrigued him and others and had made them decide to join the man in the war where they until now had been neutral. If lord Voldemort won this war Sanguini had a feeling that much would change. It was only left to be seen whether it would be a positive or negative thing.

"Lord Sanguini, I did not expect to see you so soon after we had ended our negotiations." With a nod Sanguini took in the small changes which had happened to the man since the last time he had seen him. He saw the anger and worry which had been there when lord Voldemort had come back from the short break they had agreed on in their negotiations. Until now he had not succeeded in finding out what had caused the man to feel such emotions.

"Lord Voldemort, it is a joy to see you. I hope you have been well since the last time we saw each other." Sanguini said, not answering the impatient man's question. Living through centuries had taught him patience if nothing else. "And it is good to see you, now let me ask you again, lord Sanguini, what reason to you have to seek me out at this time of the night?" The dark lord spoke slowly and formed every word carefully. If Sanguini did not know better he would say the man was speaking as if he had a conversation with a child. Instead he guessed that it was an attempt to keep the impatience in control. Nodding to himself Sanguini decided that he would test lord Voldemort's limits another day.

"I was attending Slughorn's Christmas party this year. He has been reinstated as potion professor at Hogwarts, I believe that you also went to a few of those in your time at the school. Feeling bored I left earlier than I usually would have, besides I felt hungry and decided to get a little snack before I decided to leave the area. I met quite an interesting person while there." Keeping a close eye at the dark lord Sanguini knew that he now had the man's attention. The dark lord was leaning forward in his chair, red eyes watching him intensely. "I had planned on drinking his blood, but then he asked how the negotiations between our forces had been gone." Much like Sanguini had done when hearing this the dark lord's eyes narrowed. "And how should anyone know of this? Only I and my closest death eaters know about this. And none of them would be stupid enough to let a word out where the wrong person could risk hearing it."

Sanguini huffed and lifting his chin, staring directly into the man's eyes. "And no vampire would do something like that, but we will discuss that later, actually this one said that he knew you quite well, if I should believe what he said."

"And who was this person?" Lord Voldemort's voice was cold, but the man could not keep the interested tone out of it. "I believe he called himself Evan James, such a muggle like name."

No sooner had the words left his mouth before Sanguini suddenly found himself unable to move. It felt like someone else had taken control over his body and Sanguini decided that it was not a feeling which he liked.

The vampire's eyes widened. It took no little amount of magic to keep one of his kind and as old as him in place. And to nearly stop him fully from moving, they had indeed made the right choice by joining forces with lord Voldemort.

The dark lord slowly got up from his throne like chair and walked over to him much like a predator would near its prey before it jumped and delivered the killing bite. The thought sent an exited shiver down his spine. It was a long time since he had felt like this and it seemed like Evan James was not the only one who would be able to keep his interest captivated. The dark blue robes fluttered behind the man giving him an air of importance most people would not be able to create. Lord Voldemort stopped when he was no more than a few inches away from Sanguini. Even without the senses his vampirism gave him Sanguini would have been able to see every little detail in the man's face when they were standing this close.

They were equal in height so they were standing nose to nose. Even if he had been able to move Sanguini was not sure that he would have chosen to do so.

"Did you do anything to him?" The words nearly slipped over in Parseltongue and Sanguini could feel the man's magic wrap around both of them. Suddenly he understood why so many people feared the dark lord. He was an incredible enemy, and when he was angry it seemed like the man's tight control on the magic would start to slip a little. It was long time since he had felt such an amount of magic. Now that he thought about it, he realised that it was untrue. Evan James had given him a similar feeling. Sanguini wondered what the two wizards would be able to accomplish if they decided to work together.

Sanguini felt the muscles in his jaw relax, so he was able to move his mouth and tongue, the rest on his body stayed in its frozen state. "He was fine when I left him. Drunk, but unharmed. I followed him to make sure that he would get to his destination safely. He disappeared suddenly from view, I believe he went through some kind of wards, although I did not try to follow with him for obvious reasons."

"Were there any others with him?" Sanguini would have shook his head had he be able to move. Instead he found himself answering verbally. "No, when I hunt I make sure that the possible dinner is alone. It would not do to be attacked from behind when I am trying to feed after all."

"Did he say anything else than telling you that he knew me?" To Sanguini it actually sounded like lord Voldemort was genuine worried about this Evan James, making him wonder if the boy had been something more than just an ally. The vampire doubted that Voldemort would react like this when hearing about any of his other allies.

"Yes, he asked me not to take him back to you since you had had an argument and he had not yet forgiven you for that. I promised him that I would let go of him for this time." Sanguini said nothing about the short kiss he had stolen from the green eyed wizard. A strange feeling in his gut told him that lord Voldemort would not react well to such news. And he could not risk the treaty between his kind and the dark side because he had been curious. "Inform your people that no one is to lay a finger on Evan, he is mine and anyone who as much as thinks about harming him in any way or form will be facing the consequences. And should any of you meet him again, you will aid him in whatever he needs help for, while making sure that he does not get a chance to do something stupid. As much as I hate to admit it, Evan has a tendency to want to help people and at the same time get himself into troubles."

The vampire bowed his head shortly, for once ignoring the way he was being ordered around, like he was nothing more than a lowly servant. He would look through fingers with it this one time since he was more interested in figuring out the two wizards' relationship.

It seemed like he did not have to fear getting bored for the next long while.

**)00(**

Harry only had one wish when he woke up the next morning. He wanted to die. If anyone would do so he would gladly hand over all his vaults to the person. The pain in his head was too painful, and Harry was sure that most of the pain came from the blinding light which filled the room. Thankful for small blessings Harry enjoyed that it was silent in the room he was in. The way his head felt in the moment made him sure that it would explode even at the smallest noise.

"I am never going to drink like that again."  
"What made you consume so much alcohol, Potter?" Harry's eyes snapped open and he quickly realised his mistake when pain bombarded his already abused brain because of the light in the room. Groaning Harry rolled onto his stomach, only to find that whatever he was lying on was smaller than he first had thought. Another groan made its way over his lips when his body came in contact with the hard and cold floor. As if nothing had happened Harry rolled onto his stomach, fully intending to follow his plan about going back to sleep until the nausea had gone.

"Mr. Potter, I would advise you to get up right now or you will suffer whatever consequences I see fit." Harry pushed Snape's words into the back of his mind, already half asleep.

A shriek escaped him when it felt like ice cold water splashed over his body. Wide eyed Harry sat up, feeling like his body was on fire because of the sudden shift in temperature. Turning his head Harry glared at the dark clad man in the armchair. Snape raised an eyebrow, unamused. "So you have decided to join the world of the living."  
"What was the spell you used on me?" Harry asked while rubbing his arms. His body felt cold and also strangely numb but he was not freezing. "A cold water spell. It is normally used on drunks to make them sombre. The effect last for a few hours and should not have any unpleasant effects. At least that is what I have heard. Since I have never tried it on myself it is a little hard to say it for sure." Groaning Harry let his head fall, wincing at the impact his head made on the floor. "You are evil, you know that?"  
"That was not what you told me last night."

Harry frowned, trying to recall what he had done last night. He remembered sneaking to Hogsmeade where he had found Hagrid inside the Hogs Head, and they had talked and drunk. When he had left he had been attacked by the unknown vampire.

Groaning again Harry let his head hit the floor several times, hoping the action would knock him out, instead the headache from before returned on full power. "If you do not remove yourself from the floor right now and stop trying to harm yourself you will be forced to make every potion from first year and to the seventh. And you will not be allowed to leave the potion laboratory before you have made them all to my satisfaction."

Harry got back on the sofa, feeling like he was moving as fast as the vampire from last night had seemed to do. He knew the potion master well enough to know that the treat was real. Once back on the sofa Harry looked over at the man, noticing how shiff the man was sitting. Looking under himself Harry realised that he had taken up the spot where Snape would usually sleep. Knowing that there had been absolutely no reason to give up his sleeping place Harry nodded his thanks to the man. Snape raised an eyebrow. "In contrast to general belief I do not enjoy to torture my students, Mr. Potter."

Blushing Harry lowered his head, letting his long hair hide his face from view. Snape had saved his life several times before and as far as Harry knew the man had never lied to him, so Harry so no reason to why he should not be telling the truth now. "Of course, sorry professor."  
"Apology accepted, Mr. Potter. Now, before the others come back inside, explain why you felt it necessary to leave the safety of the wards?"  
"I want to play an active role in this war and staying here would not let me do so. I figured the best way to make sure we would win would be to get more allies for our side. Voldemort may already have many, but there are places where I can come in, where he was unable to. Even as a supposed traitor the name Harry Potter still holds some power to it. And although Evan James was an almost unknown wizard back then I have connection to the goblins as him. I may not be able to talk them into joining our side, but perhaps they will then be willing to stay neutral in the war."

The sound of Draco's enraged voice could be heard from the outside. Harry could not hear what the blonde was saying but he figured that Luna had something to do with it. Perhaps the girl was keeping the two older teens busy by looking for one of her creatures. "And why did you not think of telling anyone where you were going?"  
"You had said you did not want to be disturbed even if the world had come to an end. Hermione and Draco were so busy at ignoring each other when I told that I would leave. But I told Luna that I would go. Besides, even if I had told you, it was not like any of you could have gone with me. All of you were too well known to walk around in Hogsmeade unnoticed. And he would easier trust me if I were alone."  
"Who?"

Licking his lips Harry pulled the cover closer around his body, suddenly feeling cold, although his body was still numb from the spell Snape had used on him. "I disguised myself and went to the Hogs Head where I found Hagrid. In my first year he told me he had met a stranger in there who had given him a dragon egg when Hagrid had told him about Fluffy, the Cerberus which had guarded the Stone." From Snape's small grimace Harry guessed that the man still remembered the dog. After what Fluffy had done to the professor's leg Harry was not really surprised. "So I bought us a few drinks, we talked and when I had the information which I had come for I bid him farewell and left."  
"And nothing else of interest happened?"

Shaking his head Harry replied. "No."

"Interesting, especially considering that you were attacked by a vampire. Normally that would be called something, if not attention-grabbing."

Harry felt how the blood was drained from his face at Snape's words. He had hoped that the professor would have forgotten about it but it seemed like today was not his lucky day. To make it worse Snape had caught him red handed in a lie. Snape leaned forward in the chair, placing his elbows on his knees and resting his chin on one of his palms. Meanwhile Harry shrank back into the sofa, attempting to get as far away as possible from the man without actually moving. "You are very bad at lying, Mr. Potter. You stumble over your words, avoid looking people into the eyes and you start fidgeting. I do not even need to have any experience at spying to read you."

The Gryffindor's face went from white to hot and he crossed his arms under the cover. He was not pouting, it was just that things were not going the way he wanted to and therefore he was thinking about how unfair it was.

"Mr. Potter, stop this childish act and start telling me what happened after you left the Hogs Head." With a sigh Harry unfolded his arms and looked Snape into his black eyes as he retold what had happened the last night.

)00(

When Potter had finished his tale Severus leaned back in the armchair with a thoughtful look on his face. He looked at the boy, wondering how Potter could still be alive. The vampire had had little to no reason to believe the boy's words and therefore nothing could have stopped him from drinking every single drop of the boy's blood. A small shiver ran down his spine at that thought. How to explain to the dark lord that the man's lover had been killed while it had been Severus' duty to look after the boy? He doubted that loosing Potter would do any good for the dark lord's mind.

The thought of the two wizards' relationship brought Snape's thoughts back to the prophecy. There was no doubt that the two of them would have to kill each other or neither would be able to live. But it was clear to him that the boy did not want to fight the dark lord, not more than he had already done. And the dark lord probably believed that there was another meaning behind the prophecy. One which did not mean that they would have to take each other's life.

Looking closely at the brat Severus realised that Potter looked nearly nothing like James Potter had done. With his glasses gone and long hair instead of the bird nest the boy had had the boy looked nothing like Potter senior had done. If Severus had to compare the boy to anyone he would see Potter junior looked more like Lily than anyone else. The green eyes which were watching him intensely. The straight nose and the lips. But the boys also had some traits which were solemnly his own. His lithe and small body. Both parents had been quite tall and neither had been as slender as the boy had been and somewhat still was. Severus guessed that it was the treatment the boy had faced at his relatives' hands. Voldemort had told this to Narcissa, Lucius and Severus when he had returned from his visit at Potter's last living relatives' home.

Perhaps they could not be called so any longer. After all the dark lord had made sure that there was not a trace left of the three muggles anymore.

The boy was his own person, and not some reincarnation of his dead parents. Severus supposed that it would only be fair to recognise the boy for this. He could not call him Harry or Potter, it would only remind them both of who the boy had been before. And Severus refused to call the brat James, it would remind him of his childhood tormentor, someone Severus refused to think about if it could be avoided. That left him with Evan. Severus guessed that it was an acceptable name and the boy had told him last night that he had chosen the name to honour his dead mother. Perhaps Severus would do the same thing by beginning to call the boy by that name.

But if he started to use that name, Pot-Evan would probably start calling him by his first name to. Severus supposed that it was something which he would just have to accept. It was better than him calling the boy any of the other names, one of them still resulting in the use of the potion master's first name.

Realising that he had been silent for too long and Evan had started fidgeting Severus pulled his attention back to the current situation. "I suppose I should not have been surprised that you of all people managed to get away with your life. The vampire probably took pity on you which is the only reason to why you are here. There is no doubt that the dark lord will be displeased hearing about how you left the security of this houseand put yourself into danger without a second thought."

"There is no reason for you to tell him." From the boy's desperate tone Severus figured that Evan had come to the same conclusion as he. "Even if neither Draco nor I informed Voldemort about last night's incident it does not mean that he will not find out about it, if he does not already know. When I told you to think through before you made someone make a promise it did not only mean Slytherins. The vampire did only promise not to bring you back to the dark lord's manor this time. He will seek out Voldemort to confirm your story that way the dark lord will learn of what happened. And he only promised not to take you back that one time. If you should meet again I am afraid that you will not be able to pull the same stunt."

With a groan Pot-Evan buried his face in his hands. "I am going to get killed!" At the dark haired boy's words Severus snorted. "Of course not. The dark lord will not kill you. But once he gets his hands on you it is doubtful that he will let you leave his side. It is most likely that you will find yourself watched all hours of the day and entirely unable to leave the dark lord's manor, even if you should want to." The only answer Severus got was yet another groan from the slumped boy.

**)00(**

The birds flying across the sky were greeted by quite an odd sight should they happen to look down on the snow covered ground. Two small dots, one almost as white as the snow while the other had a fur as black as the darkest night moved through the snow in a fast pace considering their sizes. Looking closer one would see that in fact they were not dots but actually two living animals. A white ferret and a green eyed kitten.

They moved in a straight line as if having a destination in mind. Far behind them was Hogsmeade where most people had been up and about for hours. In front of the two small animals was the Forbidden Forest where only a few people would dare to set their feet in, even by broad daylight. The only one who came into the forest regularly was the half giant. Because of his size and lack of fear it was only the fewest things and creatures which Hagrid had any problems with.

As soon as they reached the boarders of the forest both animals stopped when they were sure that no one was there to see them. The two small animals breathed heavily and stayed close to the ground, only too aware of how easy a dinner they would be for someone bigger than them.

The white ferret raised itself on its hind legs, sniffing while its head swept from one side to another. Suddenly the ferret's body began to grow and change and after a few seconds Draco Malfoy was standing in the spot where the little animal had been. Harry had followed as soon as he had seen that the blonde had started his transformation. Now the two teens were standing in place of their animagus forms.

"Just why is it that I had to accompany you here?" Draco said while he kept looking around, much like the ferret had been doing. Sighing Harry concentrated on dusting the snow off of his robes before answering the question. "Luna does not have an animagus form and someone would have to stay and keep an eye on her to make sure that she does not wander of or does something dangerous or stupid. And if I left you and Hermione there I am not sure I would have a home when I returned. And since Hermione does not have an animagus form and is still a student at Hogwarts, she is not allowed to do magic outside Hogwarts and therefore Snape would have to be there in case something should happen. Since you do have an animagus form and you are supposed to be homeschooled no one at the ministry will register that you do magic as long as it is not any of the Unforgiveables."

Draco stared at him with disbelief in his eyes. "Who are you and what have you done to the scar head I went to school with?" Starting walking Harry be beckoned for Draco to follow him. There was a rustle of robes and suddenly Draco was pressed against his side. "I am still me, I have just learned to think things through."

"So you leaving the dark lord's side was you thinking?" Harry turned his head so Draco could not see the blush covering his face. "That is one time which does not count."

"Because you acted like a Gryffindor?"

Harry ignored the half mocking question and continued walking with Draco sticking closely to his side. The Forbidden Forest was strangely silent considering that it was midday. Different tracks and paw prints covered the ground, making Harry wonder about just how many different beings lived in the forest. Somehow he doubted that even Hagrid knew the answer to that.

"What are we searching for here?"

"If we are lucky Firenze finds us." Harry whispered back to Draco. "What is this Firenze and what will happen if we are unlucky?" Draco's nervousness infected Harry and his senses were on an edge. "Firenze is a centaur, he saved me after you had left me in this forest when we had detention."

"Merlin Harry, how can you carry resentment over it? We were first years and that thing was drinking unicorn blood."

"Voldemort." At Draco's bewildered expression Harry continued. "It was Voldemort, well I guess that it was technically Quirrell since Voldemort was living in the back of his head."

Looking through the corner of his eyes Harry saw Draco's slightly confused expression had not lessened but now there was also disgust mixed into it. "You are kidding."

"Nope. It was Quirrell who tried to steal the Philosopher's stone in the end of our first year. Why did you think he died?"

"I heard rumours but no one actually knew what was real. Dumbledore claimed that he man died in a work related accident but no one from Slytherin believed that. So how did he die?" Harry flinched at the question, but Draco sounded truly interested so Harry found himself answering the question. "At that time Voldemort and I could not touch each other without damage or intense feeling of pain. Quirrell's body simply burned up when I touched him for long enough and Voldemort´s soul fled from the scene. Dumbledore arrived too late to do anything good but he did get me to the Hospital Wing."

Harry closed his mouth with a small frown marring his face. It had been rather conveniently that Dumbledore had shown up when he did. Harry had been forced to deal with the danger without an adult to help and to guide him. It left him with a bitter taste in his mouth. Harry doubted that Dumbledore could really have been oblivious about all what happened through Harry's school time. For all Harry knew the headmaster had put him through it all as a form of a test. It would not have been hard to believe if not because most of the things happening had been something which the headmaster could not possibly have a chance to set up.

Draco shoved himself into Harry, making the shorter wizard stumble but not fall. "Honestly Harry, have you heard a single word of what I have been saying or were you too far into lala land?" Glaring at the blond Harry shoved back, watching with a small grin as Draco stumbled and nearly lost his balance. "For your information Draco, I was thinking. Perhaps you should try it sometime?"

"It is rich coming from you. It is common knowledge that Gryffindors are unable to use their brains, unlike us Slytherins."

"And yet I have been told so many time that I have been sorted into the wrong house and that I would do great things in Slytherin."

Hearing the blond's splutters Harry grinned and continued walking. A call of his Christian name and the sound of hurried footsteps told Harry that Draco was following him. Although he did not want to leave Draco behind he had no plans about delaying this. Midday had already been passed and they had not many hours left before it would start to get dark. Harry hoped they would have accomplished the task before nightfall. Not even he was stupid enough to stay in the Forbidden forest when it was dark without being prepared for it. "If you have no intention of listening to what I say then I will..."

Whatever Draco had planned on saying Harry never found out. The two boys found themselves at the sharp ends of a dozen arrows. "Harry, this is so much your fault. If we die I am going to kill you for this."

"Draco, I suggest you shut your mouth if you are not going to say anything useful instead of whining." Harry answered, not taking his eyes of the hostile looking centaurs surrounding them. "A Malfoy does not whine and how about doing something? I do not want be to be shot. The hedgehog style is so much last year style."

"Actually I had not planned farther than going into the forest and hoping for Firenze to find us. Afterwards I just planned on going with the flow."

Feeling that Draco was getting ready to shout at him Harry decided to step a little in front of the blond, effectively getting the attention from the centaurs watching them silently.

Slowly, without letting go of the eyes of the centaur he recognised as Bane Harry bowed. Seeing the surprise in the centaur's face Harry hoped that it had been the right thing to do and he decided to take the next step, wanting to see what was going to happen. Hopefully it would not end with two dead humans. "The stars are shining brightly today."

"But Mars' light has strengthened and will soon outshine them all." Bane answered and Harry stood right, giving himself time to study the centaur in front of him while being thankful that he had listened to Hermione's endless talk. Bane had black hair and dark skin and bread just as black as his hair. "That is what we have come to talk with you about."

"We do not meddle with humans' affairs."

Biting the anger over being so brutally cut off Harry hold his head high. "You could at least listen to what I have to say."

"Nothing you could say could be of any interest." Clenching his fists Harry stood straight in front of the bigger Bane. The centaur seemed much bigger close up. The arrow was pointing directly at his chest and if Bane let go off it Harry doubted that any magic would be able to save him. "What about your foals?"

Harry quickly stepped away to avoid getting stepped on by the angry centaur in front of him. "How dare you threaten our youngsters!"

The angry whispers around him told him that the other centaurs were thinking the same. Before Harry could say more Draco placed a restricting hand on his arm, and stepped forward so they were standing side by side. "I believe that what he is trying to say is that the one we represent is someone who is fighting for making this into a better world, where neither you nor your foals would have to fear an attack from humans and where you would be left in peace, if that is what you wish for."

"The half giant already asked us. No matter what Dumbledore is offering us we are not joining his side."

"Then it is good that we are not here because of Dumbledore."

The Gryffindor did not move other than laying back his head when Bane stepped closer to him. "If you are not here because of the school's headmaster then who are you representing?"

"Lord Voldemort, I suppose, but also myself."

"State your name human."

Harry hesitated, trying to figure out what name he was supposed to give to the centaurs. "Evan James, but you may also have known me as Harry Potter. We met a few years back. This is Draco Malfoy and we have come here for your help in the upcoming war."

"You have already said it once and you have gotten our answer."

"Are you the leader of this herd?"

"No."

"Then I would like to talk to the one who is supposed to be in charge of the herd."

Bane opened his mouth to speak again but when looking over Harry's head the centaur's mouth snapped closed. "It does not seem like the stars do leave me any choice. Follow me." With a last glare Bane turned around and started walking and Harry and Draco had to run to follow with him. Harry noticed that the group parted so the biggest part went away while the smaller group followed with them, keeping Draco and him surrounded.

"What do you think that you are doing, Potter?" Harry winced at Draco's use of his last name. It seemed like people only called him by his surname when they were angry with him. "I am going with the flow."

"But I thought you would be happy if they just stayed neutral."

"Of course I am, but as any Gryffindor I have to press my luck and see how far I can get." He heard Draco snort next to him. "It has worked so far so I fail to see why you are complaining."

Any more talk was cut off when they arrived to what seemed to be their destination. Like with Fenrir's pack the herd lived deep inside the forest. But there were no huts or anything humanlike in the big clearing. Instead centaurs of all ages and different colours and sizes were filling up the space. Foals were playing among each other, their laughter carried all the way over to where they were. As the two humans proceeded together with the small group Harry noticed how the centaurs stopped whatever they were doing to stare openly at them.

Copying Draco's stance Harry held his head high and stared forward, trying to ignore the stares. He had no doubt that the circle around them were just as much to stop from running around wherever they wanted to as to protect them from the centaurs. Harry started to wonder if this had been such a good idea. Perhaps he should just have accepted Bane's answer and left it at that.

Looking at Bane, who was walking in front of them and leading the group Harry knew that it had never been a possibility for him. The centaurs knew the forests better than anyone else and they were trained warriors. They would be a big help in the war against Dumbledore. That was if he could convince them to help them.

The silence lasted as they were steadily led to the middle of the clearing. Glancing around Harry worried his lower lip between his teeth. If this did not go well they would maybe have to fight their way out. It was something which Harry would like to avoid. He would not drive the centaurs into Dumbledore's arms.

As they neared the middle of the clearing Harry noticed that the centaurs around them were heavily armed. They looked like well trained warriors and compared to them Harry felt like nothing more than a child. Next to him Harry heard Draco mumble although it was too softly spoken to hear what was actually said. Still he had a very good idea about what the blond was talking about, especially if the half amused glances one of the younger centaurs was giving Draco every time the blond said something. It was good to see that not everybody seemed to be intend on hating them.

Both wizards were brought to a stop when they reached the middle of the clearing and Harry's eyes widened so much that he feared that they might pop out of his head. From his side he heard Draco make a choking noise. In front of them was the biggest centaur which Harry had ever seen. The horsepart was white as the snow which covered the ground under them. The woman, there was no doubt that it was a woman since her upper body was uncovered, was old. Her face was wrinkled and her white eyes seemed to disappear into those. Her hair was set in a braid and the end of this braid stopped only an inch over the ground. Even when lying down the female centaur was bigger than any centaur which he had seen before. Harry wondered if this was the result of when a giant and a centaur got together and a child came out of it.

As if hearing his thoughts the centaur turned her head into his direction and Harry found himself staring into milk white eyes. Although they were eyes of a blind person he was looking into Harry could not let go of the feeling that he was being judged. Only time would tell whether he passed the judgement or not.

"Bane, why do you not tell me who our guests are?" The woman's voice was warm and although she spoke with a low voice Harry had no troubles with hearing her. As if all other sounds were muted so she could better be heard. To Harry's surprise Bane bowed to the woman in a similar manner to how Harry had done to him. "Elder, those humans", Bane spat out the word as if it was pure poison, "insisted that they would not leave before they had talked to you."

"Who might those people be?" Again the woman was looking directly at him, Harry followed the urge and stepped forward, bowing like he had seen Bane do for the woman.

"The stars are shining brightly, my lady." She had a surprisingly soft laughter, more like that of a young girl rather than one which belonged to an old woman. "A two legged who knows our way of greeting each other and shows respect, how unusual." Harry smiled and straightened his back. "My name is Evan James, although I am also known as Harry Potter. With me is Draco Malfoy, heir of the Malfoy family."

"I did not know that some humans have two identities. But the names Malfoy and Harry Potter are both well known."

A two legged from a dark family and the traitor who turned his back to his people and should be dead." Harry glared at Bane, wondering if he should silence the rude centaur.

"Now Bane, be nice to the foal." Harry turned his attention back to the female on the ground. "I am no foal." The laughter from her was more irritating this time than anything else. "Little two leg you and your kind will always be foals in our eyes, two named foal." Tramping down his temper Harry bit down on his under lip while running the woman's words through his head. "As long as you are a foal you are without knowledge about what you are talking about."

"Then what do I have to do to change that?"

Harry was only too aware of the sudden silence around him. He shifted his weight from one leg to another, but did not look away from the female centaur who was watching with a whole new interest. "To be seen as what you would call an adult, you will have to go through the same ordeal as any of the foals will go through so they can call themselves a warrior. Do you really intend on going through it?"

"Sure."

"Potter, what do you think you are doing?" Draco hissed, yanking on Harry's sleeve, effectively gaining the ivory head's attention. "Making it so they will listen to me?" Harry said making it sound more like a question rather than an actually answer.

"Elder, you cannot seriously mean that you are going to let those two legged go through the tests. The stars always say-"

"That anyone who wants to be recognised as a warrior among us will have to go through the tests. But the stars have said nothing about who is allowed to take the tests." The Elder interrupted Bane, dismissing the younger centaur in a way Harry could not help but admire. "Are you willing to go through the tests?" Harry found himself nodding. "If that is what will make you listen to me."

The Elder nodded back, seemingly satisfied with his answer. "Very well, Bane will be the one to supervise the tests. Your friend is allowed to stay here or go back home while we wait."

"That I cannot agree on." Harry jabbed an elbow into Draco's side but the blond ignored the small pain he probably felt. "I promised the dark lord and my father that I would keep an eye on this idiot and I intend on keeping that promise."

Both boys stared at the white centaur, waiting to see what she would about Draco's claim. The Elder's face did not lose its bemused expression. "It seems like you have two to lead through the tests Bane, since they cannot be parted and the stars will not allow a stranger to look on. And two named foal the stars advise you to listen to your heart instead of letting the clouds in your minds stop you from seeking out your heart's desire."

Seeing Draco's horrified expression at the woman's words Harry was unsure about whether to feel pity for the blond or start laughing. But hearing the centaur's last words Harry decided to join the blond in whatever his reaction might be

**)00(**

Draco's face had still not gained its normal colour as he and Harry were lead away from the clearing. When he had told the centaur that he neither could nor would leave Harry out of sight he had expected to be let in as a watcher. Instead he now found himself as a participator because of a promise he had made to his godfather and the dark lord. "If this is the things you get yourself into when you are with somebody, I do not even dare to think about what kind of troubles you get yourself into when being left on your own."

Harry did not respond to this which made Draco feel more nervous than he already did. Harry was supposed to answer him so Draco did not have to focus on whatever task they were heading towards. It was the least the Gryffindor could do after getting him into this mess the first time.

"You know, you could just have stayed back with the herd." Harry whispered back. "And when the dark lord finds out about what happened it would be my head which rolled so no thank you."

"I would not let that happen." Despite Harry's confidence Draco did not feel calmed. Although the dark lord was less harsh with his followers nothing stopped him from punishing them as he saw fit. Especially if it had something to do with the thick headed Gryffindor walking in front of him.

Draco bit back a curse when his robes once again were caught in the shrubbery. "Those robes are meant for dinner parties, not for a walk in the Forbidden forest, or any other forest." He stopped his angry mumbles when the centaur, whom he was sure had been called Bane, stopped. Not that the name was important but he guessed he would have to include it in the letter he planned on writing to his mother. But since he was almost sure that the dark lord would also get to read the letter he guessed he could not write all the names his brain was producing for Harry.

They had stopped on the edge of a small open area. Draco had to admit that it was a pretty place, despite it being in the middle of nowhere. There was a small waterfall and unlike the rest of the forest the ground was not covered by snow although there was nothing between it and the sky above them.

Draco turned his attention from their surroundings to the centaur when he realised that the creatur had started to speak. "To be accepted among the warriors you will have to pass two tests. The first one will be you two spending the night here alone, you will not be allowed to leave this clearing. If the stars want it and you are still alive tomorrow you will be lead to the next test. If not your bodies will be placed where people will be able to find them and you will never be able to pass the stage of a foal.

Neither Draco nor Harry said a word while they watched the centaur leave. Once it was out of sight Draco turned towards Harry, finally giving his anger free rein. "Just what do you think you are doing Potter? It was meant to be a short tour. Into the forest, get their answer and then get back to the cottage where we at least would have been able to get comfortable. What happened to that plan? Severus is going to kill us when we do not return tonight. But do you know what? You get to take the whole blame for this."

"Let me remind you that there was no plan. And I might have planned on letting them stay neutral but we have a chance to make them support us. At least we can ensure that they do not change their mind about Dumbledore."

"That may be, but just so you know it Potter, this is going to cost you." Harry broke out in a grin, both boys were breathing heavily from yelling. "And I would expect nothing less of a Slytherin."

)00(

Sanguini stopped on the branch he had landed on. Not even the squirrel in the tree next to the one he had landed in reacted so he honestly doubted that the two humans under him and the dark centaur hidden nearby in the shadows had noticed his arrival.

Dismissing the centaur's existence as unimportant Sanguini turned his full attention back to the two humans under him. He had been intrigued about this Evan James after meeting the boy the other night. Seeing lord Voldemort's reaction to the news about the meeting the feeling had only grown. Therefore he had returned to where he had last seen the little human boy.

His curiosity had grown when scents had proven that Evan had left whatever had been behind the wards and nothing had shown him that the boy had returned. Therefore he had followed the tracks of two small animals all the way to the Forbidden Forest which he knew that humans were not supposed to be in, especially not at night time.

Now he found himself watching the two young humans. They were sitting close together with a small fire in front of them, none of them were speaking. Sanguini made himself comfortable on the branch. Lord Voldemort's reaction had proved that the black haired boy was of importance and he would see to it that the boy was not harmed while being under his watch. He recognised the black haired's company as Draco Malfoy, son of lord Lucius Malfoy and heir of the Malfoy family.

From the observations he had made of the pureblood family Sanguini found it hard to believe that the Malfoy heir was spending the night outside willingly. It was more likely that the boy only was there because of Evan.

Sanguini's face got a thoughtful look on it. Both lord Voldemort and Evan James were interesting people and they already knew each other. He could only imagine what they could come up with if they worked together. But there was a problem with that idea. Last night Evan had made it clear that he was not speaking with lord Voldemort. Sanguini would have to do something which would get the two wizards back together.

Several ideas came to him as Sanguini leaned back against the tree. For tonight he would watch and ensure that nothing happened to the two small wizards. After that he would have plans to make and chaos to create. After all, life only got as interesting as you made it to yourself and lord Voldemort and Evan James were about to make his life a lot more interesting than it already was.

**)00(**

When morning finally came Harry sat on the ground and stared into the dying fire with bleary eyes. Draco sat next to him and the blond's head was resting on his shoulder. As the night had proceeded and nothing had happened Draco had managed to relax enough to fall asleep although Harry could not fathom how Draco could be able to sleep comfortable in such a position. But if Harry remembered correct he himself had been able to sleep well in the cupboard although it had not been meant for human beings to be in there.

Harry looked up at the still lightening sky, surprised that they had come through the night without anything happening. Had he not known better he would have thought that someone had been watching over them. But since he could not be sure if that had been the case, and if it was what their intentions had been, Harry had found himself unable to relax.

Not long after Bane had left Hedwig had shown up. Knowing that Snape would either come after them himself or contact Voldemort when they did not show up Draco had transfigurated parchment and a quill out of two stone. What had been written in the letter Harry had no idea about since Draco had refused to let him take a sneak peak. But Harry had a feeling that once they returned to the cottage, Snape would skin him alive for acting like a Gryffindor and not using his brain.

Feeling Draco move next to him Harry blinked but otherwise he sat still. Out of the corner of his eyes Harry saw how Draco's face scrunched up in protest of returning to the land of the living. "Someone turn off the light." Harry snickered, effectively awakening the blonde. When Draco was awake enough to realise how close they were sitting the blonde jumped up with horror painted in his face. "Please tell me that we have not been sitting like that all night."

"Not all night, there was a few times where you tried to lay down in my lap. But other than that you were rather amusing to watch. Did you know that you drool in your sleep?"

Draco stepped closer so Harry had to lay his head back to look at the teen looming over him. "I sleep like an angel and I do absolutely not drool!" Harry broke out in an innocent smile. "But you did. I was actually quite shocked by how much water you were able to produce. It is a miracle that I do not have an enormous spot on my shoulder."

Before Harry had time to react Draco yelled and tackled him so they both landed on the ground, but with Harry underneath the other teen. Draco kept his legs still by sitting on them and he held Harry's wrists in one hand. Knowing that he could easily knock Draco off with his magic, but not wanting to harm the Slytherin Harry settled on waiting to see what Draco would do.

The blond was wearing an almost scary grin as he sat on Harry. "Are you going to say it?" Harry shook his head and let out a loud squeal when he was jabbed between the ribs. "Say it. Say that I sleep like an angel and I do not drool. Say it."

I-I do n-ot drool and I sle-eep like an angel." Harry said quickly while tears had started running down his cheeks. "Harry!" At Draco's whining tone Harry gave in. "Fine, Draco does not drool and he sleeps like an angel."

With a huff Draco stopped tickling him and let go of his hands. "And do not forget that."

"Draco, could you move, there is something digging into my back?"

"Why should I do that? I have to say that you make a rather comfortable chair."

"Just go and tell Voldemort that." Draco paled at the thought and quickly moved away, thereby allowing Harry to sit up and rub his abused back and sides. He was still breathless from Draco's attack. "No one is going to know about this." Harry nodded. "I will take it with me in the grave, together with the knowledge that you drool in your sleep."

Harry was saved from another attack by the arrival of Bane. Both teens were silent as they watched the dark centaur which was looking at them with something which looked like surprise in his face.

"The stars have shown their approval of you since you have both survived the night. Follow me, it is time for your second test." With the help from Draco Harry got on his feet. Even the short time on the ground had made him feel cold. Without taking his eyes off of Bane Harry cast a warming charm on Draco and himself. Since he had no idea of what was going to happen he found it best that they were not stiff and cold from being on the ground. As long as Bane said nothing about it Harry guessed that it would be allowed. Perhaps it was because the centaur had no idea about what he did, but to Harry it did not matter.

This time they were walking a longer distance. If Harry's feeling was correct then they were walking a long arc around the clearing where they had met the Elder yesterday. But with the way every tree looked like each other he found it rather hard to be sure.

While they walked Harry regretted not getting any sleep last night. He supposed he could have put some wards up which would have alerted them about any intruder. It did not take long before Draco was walking right next to him, letting Harry lean against the taller boy. "Honestly Harry, did you sleep at all last night?"

Harry gave the other wizard a tired grin. "Not really."

"One of those days you are going to get yourself killed. And I will not be there to save your sorry arse."

They felt into silence as they continued following Bane. Harry debated with himself if he should ask the centaur where they were heading and what the second task was going to be. But with the way Bane had acted towards them Harry doubted that he would get any answers.

Through the rest of the walk none of them spoke a word. Harry gave up on trying to figure out where they were heading and instead he focused on not falling over his own two feet. The fact that he had not eaten anything since a late breakfast yesterday was making itself known. And with the sounds coming from Draco's stomach Harry guessed that the blond was not much better off.

Harry and Draco were both forced to stop to not walk into Bane who had suddenly stopped moving. Looking around the centaur Harry frowned when he saw that they had arrived to yet another clearing. Were those natural or were they something which the centaurs had made? Somehow it would not surprise Harry if it was the case.

"The stars have given you their approval but you still need to prove that you have what is needed to count yourself as one of the warriors. To be accepted you will have to fight against one who has already passed those tests. The stars have decided that you will fight against me."

Sharing a glance with Draco Harry noticed that the blonde looked just as pale as he felt. Even with magic Harry held no doubt that Bane was a frightening per... centaur to fight against, which were one of the reasons to why Harry wanted them to join. Also no one would expect the centaurs to side with anyone and therefore Dumbledore would not be prepared for an attack from them.

Breathing out in hope of calming his nerved Harry nodded to Draco before looking back to Bane who had turned around to face them. "What are the rules?"

**)00(**

The only thing which stopped Severus from leaving the cottage was the message he had received from his godson. Somehow he guessed that he should not be surprised that Evan had managed to land himself in such a situation. But if anyone could make the centaurs join the dark lord, he supposed it would be the Boy Who Lived To Do The Impossible. Just before Severus had left the so called light sight Hagrid had come back after asking the centaurs for help. The half giant had come back with a negative answer and the message to stay away.

Without his godson or Evan there the cottage was surprisingly silent. The girls left him alone. Miss Lovegood entertained Hubert with the stories about the creatures she and her father had been searching for and Ms. Granger had rarely left her books. Apparently she was sulking over having been left behind and was making it up by reading about animagus transformation. But as long as the girl left him alone Severus would be satisfied and would not complain.

Despite the late time Severus found himself unable to relax. He had brewed the potions the dark lord had requested and had settled down with a book, only to find himself reading the same paragraph several times without understanding a single word. He blamed it on the fact that none of the boys had shown up and that also partly on the letter which Evan's owl had brought to him today.

The green envelopment was now laying on the sofa table just in his line of sight. Although Severus doubted that either girl would try anything he found it best just to be sure. After all, one of them was a Gryffindor while the other one was rumoured to be a little loony. Although Severus was not one to believe in rumours he wanted to be sure. The girls had already been made aware of the news which the letter contained and had taken it surprisingly well. It was more Evan's reaction which he dreaded. The boy had Lily's temperament which Severus himself had felt when they had both been children.

Again Severus looking out of the window, searching through the darkness for any signs of the boys. He doubted that the vampire would try anything, especially not if he had contacted the dark lord. And the moon was not full so there would be no werewolves tonight. And yet he found himself worried for the boys' well-being. Draco was to understand since the boy was his godson but he guessed Evan was the type of person who was annoying to have around. But yet one could find themselves caring for the boy once he was gone.

Severus looked away from the window and over to the lit fireplace where the Lovegood girl was watching him with an indescribable look in her eyes. "Professor Snape you should not worry so much or the Dabberblimps are going to turn your hair grey." Before Severus had time to get angry or come up with a punishment for such a comment the girl had already risen and was leaving the living room. "We are having guests. Or perhaps I should say that the guests are having guests."

Silent as a dementor Severus rose from the chair and followed the girl. He did not have to look behind him to know that Miss Granger was following his example.

Lovegood had already opened the door when Severus arrived to the entry. Having drawn his wand before he had even left the living room Severus cast a lumos which lit up the whole room.

His godson was leaning against the smaller boy's side. Draco's white blonde hair was dishevelled and covered with twigs, he was covered in dirt and leaves and he had a few scratches on his face and arms. And from where Severus was standing he could see that Evan was not in a much better state.

"And what have the two of you been doing?" Both boys' heads snapped up as if they had not noticed until now that they were not alone. "You are looking at two new warriors of the centaurs." Severus raised an eyebrow, following the two boys closely as Evan started helping Draco up the stairs. "I take it that you somehow managed to pass the centaurs' tests?" Severus stepped into the bedroom Draco had been occupying until now and closed the door before one of the girls could follow with them. "Yes, although Draco was wounded."

"It is only a scratch and it would never have happened if you had just followed the plan." Draco said while allowing Evan to help him with getting into the bed. "It is rather hard to follow a plan when I did not even know that such a thing existed."

"No matter how lovely it is to listen to the two of you banter as a married couple I would like to take care of whatever wounds you have. Afterwards we have some things we will have to discuss."

Whether it was being called a married couple or the thought of talking which made them close their mouths Severus did not care about. All which mattered to him was that Draco shrugged his robes off, being in the state they were it was not a hard thing to accomplish. Severus' eyebrows rose while he took in the damage done to the young man's stomach. There was hardly any blood but the bruises made it look much worse than it actually was.

"It almost looks like you have been kicked by a horse." Draco winced when Severus pressed a hand against the blonde's stomach, checking if anything had been damaged. "Actually it was a centaur but in this case I do not think that it makes that much of a difference." Severus hummed in answer to Evan's words before letting go of Draco and stepping back to give his godson a little breathing space. "You are lucky that nothing has been damaged. Normally I would do nothing about the bruising but you need to be able to move."

"Has something happened while we were gone?"

Evan sounded truly worried and Severus paused to take a closer look at the boy. Although Evan did not seem to have been harmed the boy had dark circles around his eyes, indicating that he had once again lost sleep.

"Your owl arrived with a letter this morning. The dark lord is celebrating his birthday in two days and all his followers are to attend the party. Which means that you and the girls will have to come with Draco and me since you are not going to be left unsupervised."

To Severus' surprise Evan only nodded but otherwise the boy did not react. It was the grin which Draco suddenly wore which made Severus uncomfortable. Having two Malfoys as his lovers had taught him a few things about the family. And a grinning Malfoy never meant anything good for others.

"I told you, you would owe me Harry, and now you know how you are going to pay me back."

**Next chapter: Harry and Voldemort meet at Voldemort's birthday, also what will Harry give Voldemort? Seriously, I need suggestions. **


	24. Chapter 24

**Thanks for the many ideas about what to give Voldemort as a birthday gift. Surprisingly many of you actually suggested the same thing, although with some variation. I hope I have fulfilled your wishes the best I could.**

**Beta: ****angelhitomie**

**Warning: Slash; if you have read the prequel and the rest of this story you probably already know that this is a slash story. Anyway, there will be maleXmale action in this chapter, finally if I have to say so myself. **

**Disclaimer: If I owner Harry Potter, he would never have ended up with Ginny, instead he would have been with one of the males from the so called dark side. **

"You know Draco, you could have asked for anything as a payback, all my gold in Gringotts, potion ingredients from a basilisk, anything else than this." Harry said as they stepped out of the fireplace, in his case it was more like stumbling out of it. A hand on his arm stopped him from falling face first on the wooden floor. Looking up he saw professor Snape stare back at him. "We will discuss the basilisk ingredients once we have returned Evan, right now I would prefer if we could get over with this."

Knowing that the potion master was just as uncomfortable with this as himself Harry nodded. Once Snape was convinced that he would not fall, the man let go off him. "Let's get going."

The potion master turned around with his black robe billowing behind him and walked through the Leaky Cauldron, heading towards the door leading to the hidden entrance to Diagon Alley. Looking over at Draco who did not look like he had just come through the floo Harry sighed and followed after professor Snape, knowing better than to let the man wait.

Unlike the last time Harry had been in Diagon Alley he wore no real disguise. He counted on his luck and the fact that he did not look as much as Harry Potter as he once had done. A simple sticking charm made sure that his fringe stayed in place making sure that his scar would be hidden. It had worked before and he saw no reason to why it should not work this time.

Harry was aware that they were standing out. Snape was tall enough to loom over people and somehow reminded Harry about a dementor although he did not look quite as dead as one. Draco, like every other Malfoy, understood the art of making people look at him by just walking. Harry wished they could have been more anonym but it was not like it had been his choice in getting here. If he had been able to decide they would not have left the cottage or perhaps they would have been doing something more productive than this.

With a sigh Harry ran a hand through his hair, not caring if he was making a mess out of it. He had hoped to be able to sleep through after having been put through the centaurs' tests, but Draco had had other plans. So unlike his character the blond had awoken before the sun had even risen. It seemed like Snape's potions had worked since there was no trace of the wounds from their fight against Bane.

Harry's face lit up in a bright grin at the thought of Bane's reaction when the centaur had lost to two human boys, something which the centaur had been anything else than happy with. But he was happy that it was over, now they had the centaurs on their side of the war, although he wished that they had been able to celebrate it by resting and relaxing.

Because of it being vacation Diagon Alley was filled with people. Families and friends were keeping close to each other but otherwise chatting loudly together. They were aware of the war going on but still they believed that Diagon Alley was untouchable, that they would be safe there. Harry snorted at the thought. The protections may have increased but he doubted very much that the Aurors would be able to react fast enough should an attack happen.

His thoughts were disturbed when Draco's hand suddenly clamped around his wrist and the blond started dragging Harry with him. "Come on Evan, remember, you were the one who said you expected nothing less." Harry winced when Draco used his own words against it. "Yes, but this was not what I meant when I said that."

"You should know better than that when dealing with Slytherins. I know for a fact that my godfather has already warned you about this several times before. You can hardly blame me just because you do not learn anything."

Harry scowled but did otherwise not react. Draco made no attempt of hiding how much he enjoyed this and Harry had a feeling that Snape was not much better although the dark clad wizard was much better at hiding this.

They arrived to the dreaded place much sooner than Harry had thought they would. He managed to cast a glance at the shop's name before Draco dragged him inside the shop and Snape followed closely after them, effectively making sure that he would not be able to escape this.

Madam Malkin's shop looked different now there were no students in there to be fit for their robes. Somehow the shop seemed bigger than it normally would and Harry was not sure if it was not the case. After all there was something called magic which allowed people to do the most amazing things.

"Good evening, and what can I do for the three of you?" Madame Malkin was nowhere to be seen, instead it was one of her assistants who was welcoming them. The man bowed before standing up and smiling at them all. "Good morning my lords. My name is Sabroe Harkness and it will be an honour for me to serve you the best I can today."

"We all needs robes for a party tomorrow, I expect that you will be able to come up with something which will be agreeable to then."

The assistant looked from one person to another before stepping in front of professor Snape. "I believe that we will use a dark blue, only when in certain lights people will be able to see that it is not black."

Harry turned the voice out, not interested in hearing the details of the robes. He just wished that they could get over with this so he could get back to the cottage. He had nothing against being outside but he felt like he needed to prepare himself mentally for the party. Although he had gotten an invitation for the same party he was not sure if he wanted to attend it. Although Malfoy's Christmas party had been fun, since he had been together with Mortimus, Harry still remembered the Yule ball in his fourth year. It was not something which he felt any need to repeat.

"And what to do with you?" Harry blinked and took a step backwards when he suddenly found the wizard in front of him. Mr. Harkness did not seem to let himself be bothered by it. Instead the man removed a dirty blonde lock of hair while watching Harry with a thoughtful expression. "A rather difficult decision, indeed. Unlike Mr. Malfoy we will need stronger colours for you, I think a dark green, perhaps mixed with another and lighter colour or else it will get too moody. But most green since it will bring forth the colour in your eyes. Once I am finished with you, you will catch the eye of every witch and wizard." Harry sent Draco and Snape a panicked glance, but the two others had gone to another part of the shop and it seemed like Draco was trying to drag Snape into a discussion about what kind of material should be used for their robes. It was clear to see that Snape preferred to be anywhere else than there.

"Come with me, I think I will make your robes first." Harry tried to protest but Draco silenced him with a look from the other side of the shop when Mr. Harkness dragged him up on a stool. "Strand still, this has to be perfect." Harry turned around until he was looking straight forward towards his companions and stood still.

Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw the assistant step back with a thoughtful expression on his face. "How the robe looks is very important. It would not do to make you look too feminine." Harry's face flushed red at the man's words. Now where they were out of hearing the man's attitude seemed changed. To an outsider there would be nothing to see but the tone of the voice made Harry tense.

"Ow, what did you do that for?" Harry glared down at the man who was looking surprised at him. "I did nothing, it was probably one of the needles because you are not standing still." Harry narrowed his eyes but did otherwise not react. What the man had said sounded very unlikely and it did nothing to calm him.

When he felt something pinch him again Harry hardened his glare but said nothing. Neither Draco nor Snape had sensed anything, probably because they were at the other end of the shop and too busy with other things to notice him. No matter what he would not need their help with this little problem.

The next time one of the man's hands brushed against his groin, Harry allowed his magic to give the man a shock. With a yelp the man jumped backwards, staring at his hand as if not understanding what had happened. Then he looked over at Harry to check that he held no wand.

The dark haired wizard just gave him an innocent grin. "What did one of your own needles pinch you this time? Really for someone working here you are not really good at it, are you?" Harry smirked when raw anger coloured the man's face. It felt good to give back just as good as he got.

Harry's stood still when the assistant stepped up so they were chest to chest. Thanks to the chair Harry was standing on he was taller than the man, although it was not much. But it was enough to make him feel better.

"Are there any problems here?" Both froze at the sound of Snape's voice. The other wizard's reaction made Harry wonder if the man had been a student of Snape. Out from the reaction Harry would say yes. But anyone would probably tense when Snape spoke like that. The tone was usually used when one could be looking forward to a month worth of detention and a dock in the housepoints.

"Of course not sir, we were just discussing how the inner robes should be." The man lied, hurriedly stepping away from both Harry and Snape. "Really, is that what happened, Evan?" Harry found himself relaxing with the professor nearby. One would have to be an idiot with a suicide wish if they tried anything with him there. "Of course, Severus." If the potion master got to use that name Harry guessed that nothing stopped him from using the man's first name. "Then I believe that there will be no problems with me staying here. I believe that Draco is distracted for the moment."

Following Severus' line of sight Harry smiled. It seemed like Draco took this assignment very serious. The blond had found one of the female assistants and was discussing livingly with her. Actually the girl looked similar to Hermione but that was probably just a coincidence.

Under Severus' gaze the man did not dare to try anything, but it did not stop Harry from taking revenge. From time to time he sent small electric shocks from his own body to the man, only to watch him jump back with a surprised look in his face. If not because the man had stepped over the line with touching him Harry would probably have felt sorry for him. As it was he found it was a great amusement although he could have done it without Severus' disapproving looks. At least the potion master did not step in to stop him which gave Harry a feeling that Severus had known what was going on and therefore let him take his revenge while looking the other way. Figurative of course.

**)00(**

Looking over the arrived guests a dark expression coloured Voldemort's face. The one he had hoped to see had yet to arrive. Of course there was still time left but with him it was not to be sure. He hoped that enough time had passed already to make his lover's temperament cool down.

Voldemort knew that he pulled a page out of Dumbledore's book with the way he manipulated people right now. Severus and Draco had strict orders to stay with Evan and not leave his lover alone no matter what happened. His lover could get in troubles when being watched and Voldemort shuddered at the thought of what Evan could do if let to his own device. But in the letter, although formal formed, there had been clear orders about all his death eaters having to attend the party. Either they would bring Evan with them or they would stay back with him. A painful punishment followed by a slow death would be waiting for them if they were to go without bringing his lover with them.

He was prepared, should his lover decided to show up Evan would probably bring the two girls with him. Beforehand he had already given the orders that no one was to be attacked without him allowing it first.

"Lord Voldemort, what a pleasant surprise it is to see you." Voldemort turned his head to face the newly arrived vampire. "Lord Sanguini, seeing that it is my own party I would like to know how it could be a surprise seeing me here." Voldemort spoke too low for a normal mortal to hear what he was saying. But he had no doubts in his mind that the vampire had heard every single word of what he had said.

"Please forgive me if I sounded rude, of course you were right. But I would not have thought that you would celebrate your birthday in such an open place."

"I believe that you are the only one who has ever spoken of the Malfoy mansion in such a way. This place has been warded by a person whom I fully trust. If you pay attention you will see that most of the guests are either allies or some of my followers. A few from outside our circles have also been invited to make it harder for enemies to figure out who belongs to our side. Last but not least you should know that Tom M. Riddle and not lord Voldemort, is celebrating his birthday."

The vampire lord next to him chuckled lowly, clearly amused by what he had said. "How silly of me. I guess it is my age which I have started to feel. But please correct me if I am wrong but you seem to be waiting for someone to arrive. You have been paying more attention to those arriving guests rather than those who are already here, are you waiting for someone?"

"Even if I was why should I let you know about it?"

Lord Sanguini hummed lowly and joined him in watching the still arriving guests. Most of them were purebloods, while a few were half blood, of course there were no muggleborns. If Evan came and his lover noticed this he could just claim that no muggleborn had been high enough in the hierarchy in the ministry to be invited to this party.

"A good question. Tell me, is that little human coming tonight? I would like to meet him again and I am sure that others are just as eager as I. His blood smelled rather delicious and I have no doubt that it will taste just as good as it smells." His wand was in his hand before lord Sanguini could even blink. "A friendly advice shared between two allies. Evan is mine and tell your small friends that if they even look at him in the wrong way they will have to deal with me." Lord Sanguini leaned closer until his breath was ghosting over Voldemort's skin. "Believe me, you will thank me for this later on."

"Unless you want a big hole in your body I suggest that you step away from him."

Lord Sanguini pecked him quickly on the cheek before he stepped away from Voldemort. Both lords looked over at the person speaking and were greeted by the sight of an angry looking Evan James who was glaring fierily at lord Sanguini. Voldemort ignored the vampire lord's words and action in favour of looking at his lover. Evan's black hair was made in a French braid and the fringe hid the scar on his forehead. The dark circles around his eyes made the green in the boy's eyes shine. To Voldemort's surprise, although the dark lord did not let it show, his lover was dressed in fine dark green robes which showed off the wizard's lithe body. The robes had silver coloured rims which seemed to shine in the light.

Evan could have been dressed in rags and Voldemort would still have thought of his lover as beautiful. And he would be the first to admit that an angry Evan was a beautiful and yet dangerous force.

"Little one, what a pleasant surprise it is to see you here. We were just speaking about you."

"Oh, really?" Had Voldemort not been so amused by Evan's jealousy he would have done something to silence lord Sanguini. As it was he decided to lean back and watch the show, ready to step in if the vampire should try anything. "Yes, I was asking lord Voldemort if I could take some blood from you and perhaps also let some of my acquaintances have a little taste to."

Like it had been the case in his office when Evan had believed the Weasley twins had been killed the air started to feel thick with magic. Knowing how much damage Evan would do if his lover did not gain control over the magic again Voldemort broke in, turning both males' attention towards him. "Lord Sanguini, I suggest you go and seek out those we talked about and warn them off. Tell them, that if they touch or harm anything of mine they are going to regret it and all agreements will be forfeited."

The vampire lord held up his hands in a mock surrender. "I suppose I will see you later, lord Voldemort, little one." Voldemort blinked and Sanguini was gone, leaving the two of them alone with each other.

Voldemort kept still while he felt Evan looking at him, probably taking in every little detail about him as he himself had done to his lover not even two minutes ago. Right now Evan was like a doe in Voldemort's eyes. One wrong move or word and he would send his lover fleeing which was not what he wanted. Instead he decided to wait for Evan's first move. "Where do you know him from?" Which came much sooner than Voldemort had thought it would. He found himself looking into green eyes as he answered the question, only paying half attention to their surroundings.

"As one of the seven vampire lords, lord Sanguini was there when I negotiated with the council. We talked and I found that he, although he can be quiet annoying, is quiet easy to talk with. He was there when I returned after you had decided to run off after our disagreement about the mud-muggleborn girl." Voldemort caught himself before saying the word and he saw the green eyes look up at him. "About that, I am not sorry for hexing you for calling Hermione such a name but I am sorry for overreacting the way I did."

Voldemort stepped closer until he was standing only an inch away from his lover. "I should put you over my knee." He watched as Evan's face coloured in a combination of embarrassment and perhaps also a little anger. "You would not dare to do so."

"Are you challenging me?" Voldemort made sure to keep his voice low to not attract attention towards them. From the looks lord Sanguini was giving them from afar he had the feeling that the vampire, like himself, was not satisfied with the way this conversation was going.

Pleased he noticed that Evan was one of the few who dared to look him into the eyes when they had their usual colour. Voldemort was not sure if it was because of the colour of his eyes or because of whom he was no matter what Evan had never had any troubles with meeting his gaze. "No, but stop treating me like a child. I raised you and for a time I was older than you."

"Technically you were never older than me since you were born in a different time. And if you want people to stop treating you like a child then you should perhaps stop acting like one."

Evan grimaced but stopped himself from saying more which could turn this into a full fight. Voldemort raised an eyebrow in interest. It was the first time he saw Evan hold such a tight grip on his temperament, usually Evan would have let it blow by now. It made him wonder what had happened in those past days they had been apart which had made his lover grow up so fast.

Glancing around he could see neither blonde hair nor that which belonged to his potion master. "Did you arrive alone?" His lover threw his head back and the carefree laughter made many turn their heads in their direction until they realised just who it was they were staring at. Once Evan stopped laughing Voldemort watched his lover closely, wondering what had provoked such a reaction from the other wizard." Actually no, I doubt that they would dare to go against your orders now, when they have followed them to the T until now. If you want to know then we all came. But as soon as we stepped out of the fireplace Lucius and Narcissa kidnapped Severus and I doubt that we are going to see them anytime soon again. The twins saw Luna and took off with her after saying hello. I took off looking for you and left Draco and Hermione together. Either they will learn to get along or they are going to destroy the whole place. But I thought that it would be good for Hermione to see just what kind of people we are working with. And with Draco by her side I hope she is protected from anyone who would want her something evil."

"Salazar, I have created a monster." Voldemort marvelled. "I guess that is just what happens when a Gryffindor spends too much time together with too many Slytherins." Evan sounded way too happy for Voldemort.

They left their secluded place and Voldemort offered Evan his arm and was pleased when Evan took it without missing a beat. Dressed in similar robes and walking as they did they could easily be mistaken for a bonded couple.

With a hand on his lover's lower back Voldemort lead Evan away from the crowd. Most of the guests had already arrived and he knew that he would be informed if anything should happen. As long as the Weasley twins did not do anything the night would probably go nicely. The two of them reminded him of Evan and the crazy Mortimus at the Malfoy's Christmas party. Only this time there was no Dumbledore to target which meant that everyone was a potential target.

**)00(**

"What are you doing?" Music started playing as Voldemort swung him around on the floor. Harry's hand grabbed Voldemort's free while he automatic placed his other on Voldemort's shoulder, not caring if he was taking the female's role in the dance. "Dancing, my sources told me, that you did so in your fourth year."

"Yes, but that was ages ago and it did not go well, besides I was the one leading the dance then."

Harry said as Voldemort swirled him around and took some quick steps which forced Harry to follow him unless he wanted to make a foul out of himself. "Perhaps that was what was wrong. This time I will be the one leading."

"Somehow I find it hard to imagine you in this kind of position."

"Because that is something which will not happen."

Not letting himself be bothered by the way Voldemort said it Harry let himself get pulled close to Voldemort's body only to swirl away from the man again. Now he was thankful for his new robes. Although they were too fancy for his taste they were quite nice to dance in. The way they were created made sure that his legs were free to move without him risking falling in his robes.

"Believe me, just because you are leading this dance it does not mean that you will be the leader in everything else, after all, it was you who marked me as your equal."

"True."

The song stopped and Harry sent Voldemort a bright smile. "Thanks for the dance." Voldemort bowed a little down and pressed his lips against Harry's forehead.

"My lord, would you mind if I had his next dance?" Both broke apart and looked up and Harry's smile widened when he saw Fenrir and Remus standing not far away from them. The two werewolves were dressed in their finest stuff and Fenrir looked just as uncomfortable as Harry had felt when he first had tried on his robes.

"Hullo Remus, what are you doing here? And Fenrir too, good to see that your hair is back to normal" Before Fenrir could do anything stupid Remus stepped forth and held Harry in a similar manner to how Voldemort had been leading him under the last dance. This time the melody was much slower which allowed Harry more air so he could better talk. "Most of the allies were invited today, at least those of us who could pass as humans."

"That explains why there are vampires here."

"Pup, please tell me that you have had nothing to do with them."

Harry laughed weakly as Remus lead him through the dance. "One of them kind of attacked me a few nights ago." Seeing the golden colour take over in Remus' eyes Harry added hurriedly. "But nothing happened. And now he knows better than to try anything." Remus' grip around his arm tightened enough for Harry to know that he would have a mark from this tomorrow. "You mean that the bastard is here?" Harry barely bid back a wince when he got Remus' strength to feel. "Drop it Moony, the vamp is one of old Voldie's allies, just like you. You cannot touch him, just like he cannot drain any of us for blood." Harry's face marred by a thoughtful look. "Well, technically he can. But he is not allowed to, and I doubt that counsel of his will be happy if he should do so."

"Only you, pup."

Laughing softly Harry let his head rest at Remus' chest. "Of course, someone has to make sure that you feel alive."

"It is more likely that you will be my early death." By Remus' tone and the caressing of his back Harry knew that the werewolf was only joking. "So, how are things between you and Fenrir?"

"Good, and as long as no one talks about the prank you pulled on him he is able to keep himself calm."

"Tonight, you have nothing to fear from me. But I cannot say the same things about the twins. I do not know if it is good or not, but they have Luna with them."

"Lovegood?"

From the tone of Remus' voice Harry guessed that the ex professor remembered the Ravenclaw girl. "Yes, either she will give them more ideas to pranks they can pull on people, or else she will do the same as she did with Draco and Hermione, make them look for one of her creatures."

Both laughed at the image it created. "I can just see it, Draco Malfoy, proud pureblood heir, running around while looking for something which he has no idea about what it looks like." Harry nodded while looking around to make sure that said blond was not around. Luckily neither Draco nor Hermione were anywhere to be seen, although Harry could not say if it was a good thing or not.

Just as the song they had been dancing to ended Harry found himself pulled out of Remus' embrace. Angry that his time with his surrogate godfather had been interrupted Harry turned around to either yell or curse the person. Preferable both.

Green eyes widened when they met red eyes, although it was not the eyes of Voldemort. "Good evening little wizard, it is nice to see you again. Especially considering that our two last meetings have been cut short."

"It is a shame that I cannot say the same thing about you, lord Sanguini." Laughing the vampire whirled him around. "Fiery, I like that very much. Are you sure that there is nothing I can do which can convince you to forget about the war and run off together with me?"

The vampire's unexpected offer made Harry blink several times before he finally understood what was being said to him. "I had heard that some vampires turned mad after their turning, but you are the first I have seen who turned out like this."

"And just how many vampires have you had the honour of meeting, Mr. James?"

"When counting you? Two. And the first one I killed because he treated me and someone who I care greatly about."

Despite his intentions about the warning it did not seem like lord Sanguini had been the slightest bit scared by what he had said. Harry could not help but grumble at that. "No reason for you to pout, little wizard. I am impressed. It is not everybody which has the power to end the unlife of one of my kind."

"It actually does not take much."

The vampire threw its head back, laughing loudly and drawing the looks of the closets to them. "I can tell that you and your dear lover are going to make my life really interesting from now on." Before Harry could ask what the vampire meant, Voldemort somehow popped up behind lord Sanguini. "I would say that Evan here has danced enough for tonight." To Harry's surprise Sanguini bowed to Voldemort although he doubted that the vampire really did it out of respect. "Of course, have a pleasant night, and do not do anything which I would not do."

Blinking slowly Harry let Voldemort take his hand while he stared at the spot where Sanguini had been only a moment ago. "Is he always like this?"

"Mostly yes, if not because he was a vampire I would advise him to stay away from coffee and sugar. Just to be safe I have ordered the houseelves to make sure that he does not get any of it. It would not surprise me if lord Sanguini is the only vampire who actually eats that kind."

Together they walked through two doors of glass which lead them out on one of the big balconies made of marble. It was already dark but the stars and the magical lit fires provided them with more than enough light. From somewhere in the darkness he could hear the calls from the albino peacocks he knew lived on the mansion's ground.

Somehow walking with Voldemort just felt right to Harry although he could have done it without all those people staring at them. It unnerved him to put it lightly. Seeing how all the other guests were dressed Harry was somehow thankful that Draco had forced him to go shopping although it was something which the blond would never get to know about. Not only would Voldemort have been embarrassed by being seen with him but Harry guessed that people would have been staring even more than they already did.

They walked until they reached the far end of the balcony where the shadows would allow them to have a little privacy from the prying eyes. "I am surprised that there are no Aurors standing at the door and demanding to gain entrance." Harry started when he felt that the silence between them had gone on for long enough, and he was surprised when Voldemort snorted. "Evan, this party is for Tom Riddle. There are people here who do not know that I am lord Voldemort, and it would create mass panic if they knew that they are celebrating lord Voldemort's birthday."

Harry nodded while leaning against the banister so he could keep an eye on the people going through the big door. "That explains the different eye colour."

"People know that Voldemort has red eyes. It would blow my cover if anyone saw them. Severus brew a potion which give me my old eye colour back for twenty four hours. What else did you think he was brewing for me?"

Shrugging Harry turned his head so he was facing Voldemort. "That explains the blue eyes, you know I wondered about those. And to be honest lately I have been a little too busy to keep track on what Snape does and does not do."

From the depth of one of the pockets in his emerald robe Harry took forth a small parchment and handed it over to Voldemort. Looking at him briefly Voldemort accepted the envelopment and opened it. As Voldemort read the letter Harry watched the man's face for any kind of reaction. He shifted his weight from one foot to another and licked his lips nervously as he waited for some kind of a reaction.

"And just how did you manage to get the centaurs to agree on an alliance?"

Harry winced at Voldemort's tone, knowing that Voldemort was not going to like what he was going to hear but stood his ground. "Just so you know it Draco was with him the whole time and nothing too serious or life threatening happened."

"The way you say it makes me dread what you are about to tell me." Harry swallowed before throwing himself out in the tale about how he and Draco had gone through the tests and had been accepted as warriors among the centaurs. "And that is pretty much how we ended with making them agree on giving our side of the war a chance."

Through the whole tale Voldemort had stayed silent while watching Harry intensely, making the other wizard shift nervously. Now where none of them spoke Harry became aware of the silence around them. It seemed like even the peacocks had stopped making any kinds of sounds and for all Harry knew the party could have ended while he had been speaking.

"It continues to amaze me how you, time after time, manage to get yourself into the strangest and most dangerous situations. Even more when you manage to get of any troubles again without anything more than a small scratch or two." Harry wanted to correct the man but wisely kept his mouth closed. "How come you are not angry with me?" Harry had expected the other wizard to rage or something but the lack of reaction put him off.

Voldemort's hand closed around his upper arm and Harry found himself flush against the dark lord's body. Even with the layers of clothes between them Harry could feel the heat from the man's body and his heart started beating faster at the closeness between them. Voldemort's hand started to wander up and down his back.

"We will leave this party and go back to my manor." Harry's body tensed and he planted his feet on the ground as if to stop Voldemort from making him move. "I am not so sure about that."

"And why not?" At that moment Harry caught a glimpse of his Tom. The Slytherin who would never take no as an answer. Instead of starting an argument Harry leaned against the man so his head was resting on Voldemort's shoulder. "This party is in your honour. Do you not think that people will notice it if you were suddenly missing?"

"I believe that they will find themselves too busy with other things to think too much about our absence."

As a clue to Voldemort's words a colourful smoke suddenly rolled out of the doors and windows. Harry looked from Voldemort to the thick colour changing smoke. From the inside he could hear yells and peoples' panicked voices. His feet started carrying him towards one of the doors and Harry felt his magic hum under his skin, ready to be used. A hand on his shoulder stopped him from going further and Harry turned his head to look at Voldmort who had raised an eyebrow at him. "The twins know what they are doing, the smoke is harmless and by the time it has been banished we will already have left, come."

As Voldemort tugged Harry after him, Harry glanced back to ensure himself that everything was alright before turning his attention back to the man walking in front of him.

When they were far enough away Harry lifted the wards enough for them to step out. He let Voldemort drag him flush against the man's body, thankful for the closeness as they apparated away and he let the wards fall back in place without anyone the wiser.

They landed in their new location and it was only Voldemort's hand on his lower back which stopped Harry from landing on his butt. Harry took a step away from the warm body and looked around. It only took him a moment to realise that they were in Voldemort's bedroom. Small torches were lit and cast a soft light in the room without smoking. Taking a second glance Harry realised that something was missing from the room.

"You planned this."

"Why would you get such an idea?" Voldemort stepped up against him so his front was pressed against Harry's back, making Harry feel the man's arousal as if there were no clothes between them. "You are a Slytherin, you rarely do something without a plan. And Nagini would have been here if not you had told her to stay away."

"True, and yet I find myself doing things that only a Gryffindor would do when I am with you."

Harry's breath hitched when Voldemort's long fingers wandered down his body, unbuttoning the buttons on their way. "It is nice to know that we both have a little of each others' houses inside us."

"But you act like a Gryffindor most of the time. Just take now as an example. At Malfoy manor you would have had a chance to get away. But here I am in control of the wards and everything else."

He shrugged the outer robes off and let them fall to the floor without a second thought. Draco would have a fit if the Malfoy heir knew how they were treading the expensive robes. "Maybe you should just take this as a sign of trust. I trust you enough to let me go tomorrow."

"And what if I am not inclined to do such a thing?"

A shudder ran through his body as Voldemort's tongue slowly trailed down his neck and over his collarbone. "Then you get to see just how frightening Hermione can be."

"Only you would face a murderous wizard several times and still fear a muggleborn witch of your own age."

"You have never seen Hermione when we are nearing the finals. Even the Slytherins know better than to mess with her at that time, unless they are suicidal that is."

"How about we drop the talk for now?"

Harry nodded and stepped out of his last piece of clothing and turned to face Voldemort. "Am I the only one who feels that you have too much clothes on?"

"Then I suggest that you do something about it my little wardmaker."

The young wizard sneaked his hands under Voldemort's robes so he could touch the man's skin, as he let his magic open the button, one after another. None of them spoke as Harry concentrated fully on his task. When he let his fingers slide over Voldemort's skin he felt the man shiver lightly under his touch.

Undoing Voldemort's leggings Harry's raised an eyebrow. "Really, no undergarment?" He felt very much like Snape when he drawled like that, perhaps it was a sign that he was spending too much time together with the potion master. Considering the options he had had the last few days Harry guessed that it could have been something worse. "I had a feeling that I would get lucky today."

Getting slightly annoyed about how self-assured Voldemort sounded Harry kneelt down and gave Voldemort's manhood a soft lick. With interest he watched as it gave a twist at the action before looking up at Voldemort. The man was looking down at him through half closed eyes which seemed to shine with something he could and would not try to describe. Encouraged by the look Voldemort had given him Harry leaned forward and let his mouth close around Voldemort's cock.

Torturously slow Harry started moving back and forth, once in a while he hummed, making Voldemort groan. Grinning around Voldemort's arousal Harry let go of the cock and let his tongue slide over the slit in Voldemort manhood before taking it into his mouth once again.

Intending to continue in the same pace as before Harry was surprised when Voldemort ran a hand through his hair and closed around a handful of it. Holding it the dark lord forced him to move his head back and forth in a much faster tempo. Harry placed his hands on Voldemort's thighs to stop the man from making him deep throat, there was only so far he was willing to go.

Surprised Harry found that Voldemort listened to the silent commands he was giving and slowed down to a much more comfortable tempo which allowed Harry to relax his throat so he could take more of Voldemort in and also gave Voldemort the enjoyment the man wanted.

Voldemort's grip in his hair tightened as the man emptied his load inside Harry's mouth. Having been prepared by the signs Harry swallowed Voldemort's come, feeling his own arousal start commanding being taken care of.

Harry's hand was on its way down to take care of it when Voldemort's voice made him stop all movement. "The only way you will be able to come tonight is by my touch and my touch alone. I will not allow you to be satisfied in any other way." Gaping Harry stared up at the man he had just given a blowjob. "You cannot be serious."

Voldemort helped him back on his feet and held Harry in place with a hand on his chin. "I am serious. Since you have made it clear that you will leave tomorrow I will have to ensure that you will come back to me. And it seems like you are a messy eater." Voldemort used his thump to remove some of his come which was in the corner of Harry's mouth while the Gryffindor watched him with wide eyes. "What is wrong Evan, cat got your tongue?" The tone brought Harry out of the trance he had been in while watching Voldemort lick off the semen on his thump.

A grin spread on his face, making Harry look every bit like the Gryffindor he truly was. "Bring it on."

The words had not even left his lips before Harry found himself swept off of his feet and carried over to the big bed. Harry bounced a single time before he was pinned to the bed with Voldemort hovering over him.

The Gryffindor waited to see what would happen now. From what Voldemort had said it seemed that he could expect something special tonight, but that was something which only time would show.

Harry's eyes widened when a twist of Voldemort's wandless magic summoned a little thing into existence around Harry's stained member. "This will ensure that you do not come before I want you." Understanding drawled for Harry, Voldemort had dared to put a cock ring around him.

When he parted his lips to protest Voldemort plunged his tongue inside his mouth, effective stopping him from saying anything. Harry's eyes fluttered close as he gave in to the feeling. Muttering a well known spell Harry suddenly felt empty.

While Voldemort was kissing the life out of him and stealing his breath, Harry felt a wet finger brush against his opening. Voldemort broke off the kiss as he pressed one finger inside him. Harry gasped for air and clenched his eyes close at the pain he felt. It was too long since he had had sex and he knew for sure that he was going to be sore tomorrow.

"Relax." Not even aware that he had been tensing Harry forced his body to relax. He knew that he had nothing to fear. Until now Voldemort had never hurt him while they had sex, at least never on purpose and Harry doubted very much that he would do it now.

Soon Voldemort started moving the finger forth and back. Voldemort prepared him carefully, in the same torturous slow tempo as Harry had used on the man. To make it worse Voldemort would brush his prostate every fifth time or so and then ignore it completely every other time.

Harry glared up at the dark lord when Voldemort removed his fingers and sat up. "Stay in the bed, actually, if you move as much as a muscle I will not let you come a single time tonight." Gaping Harry could only watch as Voldemort got up and disappeared through the door to the bathroom. The tone he had used told Harry how serious the man had been.

As ordered Harry lay unmoving as he waited for Voldemort to return. He could hear the other man move around in the room next to the one he was in. It made him wonder what the man was doing. Last time Harry had been in the bathroom there had been nothing which was not supposed to be there. But it did not mean that Voldemort could not have put something in there since Harry last had been there.

When the dark lord stepped out of the bathroom Harry lifted his head to look at the man and his eyes widened. "What is that?" Harry's eyes did not move from the long metal thing as Voldemort moved closer to the bed. "Just a little thing I learned about in one of my last visits in the muggle world. I have to admit that they can come up with some quite interesting things." Not the slightest bit calmed by Voldemort's choice of words Harry tried to move out of the bed. But suddenly it was as if he had lost all control over his body. "What did you do to me?"

Voldemort sat down on the bed next to Harry unmoving body. "I doubted that you would let me do this to you if you had any choice yourself. Therefore I talked one of the houseelves into spiking your drink a little." Harry could only stare horrified at Voldemort. "Close your mouth, Evan and trust me, although it may be a little painful at first, I am sure that you will enjoy it. Try it ones and if you do still not like it, then I will stop." Harry tried to move away, but his body still refused to move. "I am not sure I want to try that."

But Voldemort just smiled. "You are overreacting. I have experimented it myself, after approaching someone who was very experience about it. It seems like the trio is playing a lot of interesting games behind the door of their bedroom."

Harry just stared at the long, thin metal rod Voldemort held in his hand and tried to twitch away nervously. He had seen it in a magazine he had found when he had cleaned Dudley's bedroom and had a very good idea of what it was supposed to be used to, not that it helped calming him. It was not very wide but he winced at the thought of having it up there. "I am not sure... I do not think that I am up for that kind of things." Voldemort shook his head. "It will be fine, I am sure that you will enjoin it."

"Fine." Harry finally gave in.

"Just lean back against the pillows and let me do the work." Harry glared at the older man. "May I remind you that I am currently unable to move?"

Instead of waiting for an answer Harry just closed his eyes and waited. He really did not want to see this.

Harry's eyes flew open again when something cold and wet slipped into his red and sensitive cock. "What was that?"

"Just some lube, now relax." Harry swallowed, feeling the blood rush to his face in arousal. Through half open eyes he watched as Voldemort got the rest of the lube into him. The sensation would have made his body twist if not because it was immobile.

Gasping for breath Harry watched as Voldemort made sure that he was fully prepared. Despite the spell on him Harry could swear his body tensed when Voldemort lifted the smooth, long metal rod towards his cock. "**Are you sure it is not going to hurt? It does not look like it is supposed to be in there**." Voldemort sent him an unamused look. "**I ought to gag you. As long as it is inserted properly a metal sound does not hurt. Besides this has been charmed, it will fit your body. Now, be quiet."**

Harry did not dare to speak more when Voldemort returned his attention to what he was doing. Moving the sound to the tip of Harry's erection and pressed the tip inside.

Harry gasped and was unable to move from the uncomfortable scratch and burn. It was worse than being taken after such a long time. Through watery eyes he saw how Voldemort pushed in until it could not go any farther. Then the dark lord slowly started fucking his dick with the rod.

Harry licked his lips at the intense look Voldemort had in his face. The man was completely focussed on the task as he moved the rod up and down again. Harry groaned. He wanted to come but the blasted rod and the ring around his cock stopped him from doing so.

He let out a loud shout of pleasure when the rod slipped even farther in and seemed to hit something which reminded Harry very much of his prostate.

As if sensing his orgasm coming Voldemort removed the rod. It happened so fast that Harry was surprised that he did not feel any pain. A loud mewl came over his lips as the cock ring disappeared and Harry was finally allowed to come. A scream followed the mewl and Harry first remembered to breathe when he was seeing black spots.

**)00(**

"See, I told you that the dark lord would never hurt Harry." Draco said as they stepped away from the doors to the dark lord's private chambers. Both his and Granger's faces where flushed red and Draco was thankful that no one was there to see them. A Malfoy did not blush and listen to the doors was under them, unless they could get anything for it. This time he had done it to make the girl understand that Harry and the dark lord were supposed to be together.

Granger did not look truly convincing but nodded nonetheless. "It seems like you are right. And perhaps You Know Who will also be able to stop Harry from running into dangers head first." They shared a look before shaking their heads. "A miracle should happen before that happens." Draco said as they walked down the corridor.

They had used the floo to get into the dark lord's manor. It seemed that lord Voldemort had been distracted since none of the usual wards were up around the man's private chambers and therefore nothing had stopped them from listening to what was happening on the other side of the door. It had been interesting if one could put it that way.

Both looked at each other before sharing a smile. "It might be true, Harry has an unusual talent to get himself into things which he has nothing to do with."

"It is only too true."

The two of them stared horrified at each other when they realised that they had just had a normal conversation and had even managed to joke together. "Listen Granger, I am not telling anyone about this if you are not." The muggleborn girl nodded and held out her hand. "Draco, you have a deal."

The blond Malfoy heir stared at the hand, knowing what she wanted but still appalled about the thought of having to touch a muggleborn. Still he took her hand and shook it. "And the name is Malfoy."

"So you may think, but I call my friends by their first name."

While Draco was trying to understand what she meant the Granger girl was already running down the corridor, uncaring about just whose manor they were in. Finally his brain processed what the girl had said to him and Draco tore down the corridor after her. "Just wait until I get my hands on your Granger. We are not friends."

"You will have to catch me first, Draco."

None of them noticed the big snake which had been watching them from afar.

**)00(**

Harry's eyes were dropping when he felt Voldemort lay down next to him. The man sneaked an arm around his waist before pulling so he was lying against a hard chest. With a sigh Harry closed his eyes and snuggled closer. Harry relaxed and let his head rest against Voldemort's chest, blinking sleepingly. "Next time I am going to take the lead."

"If you say so." Harry was not sure if it was because he was half asleep but Voldemort sounded greatly amused. Not that it mattered. He was more interested in falling asleep.

**Next time: Time to start planning Dumbledore's death and how to take over the ministry... It will be fun, I hope. **

**Mortimus was so nice to help me with writing the sex scene to this chapter. For some reason he refused to tell me if he had been the one who had gotten the thing in him or had been the one to put it in his boyfriend. **


	25. Chapter 25

**Another chapter is up and I have learned an important lesson. Never write through most of the night. It became an unreadable mess. But the good news is that I turned it in, in art and actually got a good character for the creative way I had decorated the page. I am just glad that my teacher could not read what I had written. **

**Disclaimer: Still not mine, but I put it on my wishlist and sent it to Santa Claus. **

**Beta:**** angelhitomie**

**Disclaimer: I am not rich and I am not even a narrative speaker of the English language. Thus we can conclude that I do not own Harry Potter. **

Voldemort lay motionless in the bed, watching the sleeping Evan by his side. In his sleep his lover had turned around so his back was facing him. It was a tempting sight but Voldemort knew that Evan probably needed his sleep. Therefore he closed his eyes and tried to will himself to sleep, too aware of the erection he was spotting.

Evan moaned, startling Voldemort out of his thoughts. The dark lord sat up, remembering the nightmares Evan had sometimes had when they were living in the cottage. He was surprised that he had not seen any of them before now. Usually they came when Evan was stressed or an emotional mess, something which Voldemort had not seen in quite a while. But Evan quietened and Voldemort popped himself down on his elbow. He did not feel like sleeping.

Evan turned over in his sleep, a bare leg brushed against Voldemort's as he moved in his sleep. Voldemort moved a little away so he would not wake the boy. Evan was one of the most restless sleepers he had ever gotten to met.

The black haired male moaned and Voldemort sat up with a sigh, not needing to be a seer to know that sleep would not be a part of his recent future.

Letting his eyes travel down Evan's body, which was completely free from the cover by now Voldemort let a smirk graze his lips. Evan's erection was standing hard and proud, dripping a little with precum. When Evan groaned again Voldemort saw him trust his hips as though trying to create some friction. Voldemort felt his own cock pulse with arousal and he had no plans on moving. There was nothing in the world which could make him give up the front row to this show.

Evan whimpered restlessly, his lips parted and one of the black haired's hands brushed against his erection. Voldemort silently considered if he should brush Evan's hand aside and let his own replace it.

Instead of following the instinct Voldemort wrapped a hand around his aching erection. His breathing mixed with the sound of Evan's and Voldemort stroke himself to an embarrassing quick release as he kept his eyes glued to Evan.

Voldemort bit his cry back as he came, his entire body tensed. He did not stop stroking himself before he was through the orgasm. At the same time Evan came with a satisfied mewl.

With a wandless spell he banished both of their mess. Now where Evan was calm again Voldemort finally felt like he could go to sleep. Wordlessly he grabbed Evan and tugged the boy closer until they were laying chest to chest and breathing in the same rhythm.

Voldemort rested his chin on top of Evan's head and smiled. Not far from the bed he could see the box in which he had placed the rod after using it. Perhaps he should visit the muggle world more often to see what kind of things they had he could introduce to Evan.

With that thought Voldemort closed his eyes and finally gave into sleep.

**)00(**

"Are you sure that this is necessary?" Harry said while tugging the collar, trying to make it loosen a little. He yelped when Draco slapped the hand away. When glaring at Draco did not have the intended effect Harry turned to face Hermione who had come in after he had gotten the robes on. "Harry, you know how important this meeting is. And the people there are more likely to respect you if you look like you belong together with them."

"Even my best friend is conspiring against me!" He complained and let himself collapse into a chair, shivering at the disapproving looks Draco and Hermione were giving him. Sometimes they were a little too alike for his liking.

"Stop overreacting, Evan. Ms. Granger is correct. Those are powerful beings and people. They will crush you if they believe they can get away with it, and the dark lord will not be there to protect you all the time." Swatting Hermione's hands away from his hair Harry turned his full attention on the potion master who was standing in the doorway, dressed in his usual black robes.

Crossing his arms and refusing to call what he was doing for pouting Harry glared half hearted at the people in the room, including Severus who was only half inside the room. "Then why are you not dressed up?" Harry had a feeling that the only reason to why Severus was not treating him with some kind of punishment was because time was running out for them. He was well aware that it was not fair of him to take his nervousness out on them. But the only other option was to go to the meeting as he was now. And Harry doubted that he would be able to stop himself from doing something stupid if he did that.

"Because I will only escort you to the decided location and I will not take part in the meeting. Also I am only one of his followers, where you on the other hand are supposed to be the dark lord's equal. Perhaps you should start acting like that instead of a spoiled child."

Harry gritted his teeth but stopped himself from coming up with a retort. He guessed that Severus was right but it did not help with the nerves he had felt since he had awoken this morning. "Sorry." No matter what, none of them had deserved the way he had treated them and he was surprised that they had put up with him for so long.

At his apology Hermione's face softened and although neither Draco nor Severus were saying anything Harry had a feeling that they had accepted his apology.

"Now stand up so I can see if something needs to be changed." With a roll of his eyes Harry did as ordered. Draco had already done this a dozen times and every time it seemed like the blond found something which was not perfect. When Draco would be satisfied he was not sure but Harry hoped it would be before Voldemort knocked on the door, demanding to know where he was.

Thinking about his lover made a slight blush cover his cheeks. When they had both awoken the morning after Voldemort's birthday they had had another round of sex, this time without the rod since Harry had still been too sore after the last time. Not feeling like getting up they had laid in each others' arms and simply enjoyed the other's presence.

Before he had left to join Severus and his friends Voldemort had informed him about the meeting which would take place two days from then. On the same day as the students were to return to Hogwarts. Harry was surprised that Voldemort told him about this, even more when he found out he was supposed to attend the meeting standing by Voldemort's side. The dark lord could easily hold the meeting without Harry being any wiser. At the same time Harry was both nervous and exited. Finally he would be able to see just who supported Voldemort and they would be able to plan Dumbledore's downfall. Harry guessed that the fall of the ministry would go hand in hand with that.

Harry wished that there would be a more peaceful way to change the world they lived in. At the same time he knew that the best way would be to take it all down and then build the whole thing up from the bottom.

Blinking Harry realised that everybody seemed to be looking at him and he rubbed the back of his head, effectively messing up his braid. "Honestly Harry, now I have to start over with this." Draco stepped around Harry. "Unfortunately there is no time for that since we are already running late. We will leave now or else the wards around the meeting place will stop us from getting in."

"But Severus, I cannot let him go like that."

Severus cut off the blond's complaining with a quick sweep with his wand. Harry felt his hair set back in the French braid and sent the man a grateful glance. He was not sure he would survive letting Draco get his hands on his hair again. The blond could be a true menace when he wanted to be. "Now where it is done we will leave. Ms. Granger, I expect you and Ms. Lovegood to have packed and be ready to leave once I return:" The potion master said and walked out of the room with his dark robes swirling after him.

Harry hugged Hermione. "Be careful and do not hesitate with contacting me if you are in need of help." Grinning to Draco Harry grabbed his cloak and ran after Severus. He did not want Severus to leave him back at the cottage. Although it would be rather amusing to hear the potion master explain to Voldemort why Harry had not shown up when he was supposed to.

He easily caught up with the potion master just as Severus was on his way out of the door. "How are we going to get there?" Harry asked, already dreading the answer. "With an illegal portkey. This way neither the ministry nor anybody else will be able to follow where we are going." Cursing fate Harry followed Severus out of the cottage and towards the wards. Being so close to Hogsmeade Harry would not lift the wards more than necessary in case Dumbledore had someone to watch the place. The headmaster would be there in a matter of seconds and although Harry wanted revenge he was not willing to risk other's lives just so he could get it.

From the depth of his robes Severus took forth a rather anonymous looking quill. Seeing Harry's expression the professor said. "Did you really expect the dark lord to give us a muggle thing as a portkey?"

"Well, it is not like I have tried that many portkeys. It is just that I am rather bad with any kind of magical transport which does not include flying."

"Lily was having the same troubles. It is an effect of growing up like a muggle."

Harry stored the information away to where he hid all the other information he had about his parents. "If you are ready I suggest we leave now." Although he would never be prepared to use a portkey Harry placed a hand on Severus' arm. He guessed that there was no point in trying to drag it out. But the thought of Voldemort standing outside his front door with a whole army made him smile as Harry felt himself and Severus being whisked away in the early morning sun.

**)00(**

The twinkle was gone from Albus' eyes as the headmaster of Hogwarts sat back in the chair in his office. Today was the day where the students would return from their Christmas holidays. A surprisingly few numbers had stayed at school this year and although there had been no attacks from Riddle it did not make him feel better.

The reason to his less than good mood was lying on the desk in front of him, mocking him openly. The Daily Prophet did not only slander him in its articles. It also brought news of the birthday party of one Tom Mavolo Riddle where several purebloods and high standing people from the ministry had been attending. Not only would only a few believe him if he told them that Riddle was truly Voldemort. But the man in the picture looking nothing like a wizard nearing his seventies. Instead Riddle looked every bit like a young pureblood lord with his green and silver robes and flat dark hair.

Albus' sneer grew when his eyes wandered to the second person in focus in the picture, the one Riddle was dancing with. The boy looked far better than he had done the last time Albus had seen him, but there was no doubt about who the smaller wizard was.

The Potter boy was staring at Riddle as if nothing else of importance existed. Albus watched as the boy was swirled around in a graceful manner before tugged back in the man's embrace. This was a whole other picture of the boy than the one he had watched at the Yule ball at Hogwarts a few years back. At that time Potter had been an awkward teenager with no idea about how to take a couple of steps without falling over his own two feet. But Potter looked comfortable in Riddle's arms. To an outsider it could almost look like the pair did not have a single worry in their lives.

The article praised the party, although it had ended rather abruptly. At the same time the journalist asked questions about who the wizard Riddle had danced with had been.

Setting the news paper on fire did only a little to make Albus feel better. He hoped that no one would figure out who the boy really was. Harry Potter was supposed to be dead and if people found out that it was not the case Albus was not sure what would happen.

Albus found himself in need of a brandy, a handful lemon drops and a good plan.

**)00(**

Draco stayed near the window until he saw Severus and Harry portkey away. Behind him he heard Granger move around, probably following through with his godfather's orders. He guessed that Lovegood was either somewhere in the small cottage or out in the garden with Hubert keeping an eye on her. At least the ghost would stop the girl from leaving the safety of the wards or go into the potion laboratory. Draco fought back a shudder. If that happened Draco had no doubt that Severus would make real out of his treat of chopping them and use their bodies for experimental potions.

Shuddering again Draco turned away from the window, deciding not to think further about it unless he wished to lose his breakfast.

As Draco had assumed Granger was busy packing the rest of both hers and Lovegood's belongings. How two people could make so much mess over such a short period of time was a mystery to him. Quickly getting tired of seeing the witch trying to get the things to fit into the two trunks Draco mumbled a quick spell and flicked his wand. With satisfaction he watched how the things flew into their representative trunks. He did not need to check to know that everything was where it was supposed to be.

"What kind of spell was that?" Granger asked, turning around and to his surprise the girl did not look angry because he had disturbed her or over the fact that he had used magic when she was not allowed to do so. Rather she looked honestly interested, but the way she eyed him made Draco feel like he was a new species which she had just found wanted to examine closer.

"If you really want to know this is something we Malfoys take a great pride in. After all, one cannot trust another's houseelf and some things are just too delicate to be handed by a mere servant. Besides, this way is faster and I will not have to watch how you mistreat your things, especially those rags you call clothes." Studying his nails as if they were the only things of importance in the room Draco kept a careful eye on the girl. He wanted to see how far he could push her, especially now where Harry was not there to stop them. At the same time he remembered quite well the force which had been behind the slap she had given him in their third year. It had to be because of all those books she always carried around. That or he would have suspected that she had used some kind of spell to triple her own strength, if not because she was too Gryffindor to do such a thing.

"It is not like is a dark spell, it is perfectly legal. Besides, the ministry will not come running since I am being home schooled and I am therefore allowed to do magic whenever I feel like it. But I can only use dark magic when I am together with an adult witch or wizard."

"So those who are home schooled actually have more opportunities to learn something than those who goes to Hogwarts?"

The Gryffindor girl looked truly infuriated and horrified, half a year ago Draco would never have thought that she would be able to accept such a thought. "Yes, why do you think that children from a Wizarding family is much further in their education than any muggleborn and most halfbloods? We are taught at home until we reach the age for Hogwarts."

"But that is cheating."

"No it is not."

Granger crossed her arms and stared defiantly at him. "Draco, how would you react if you had to go to a muggle school and had no idea about what was actually going to happen once you arrived?"

"What a ridiculously thought, as if there would actually be a Malfoy born without magic, and stop calling me Draco."

"Then let us say that you lost your magic in some accident. And do not argue with me, because I know that such a thing can happen, it has already. Suddenly you have to fit into a society you know next to nothing about, and the only way you can learn anything is from books and everyone else is far ahead of you."

"Something like that would never happen."

"But think if it did. Try to put yourself in their place."

"Just how did we get to this?"

The question snapped Granger out of her lecture mode and she got a bewildered expression on her face. Draco was almost sure that it was the first time in years that Granger was clueless about what someone was talking about. At least if her expression was anything to go by.

"That is not important, but you have to admit that-" Not wanting to hear more Draco stepped closer and spun the girl around by her shoulders. When they were facing each other he noted that he was a few inches taller than her. Not much but it was enough to make a visible difference which was enough for him.

Continuing to stare into the girl's eyes Draco leaned forward and pressed his lips against Granger's. Instead of the quick peak like he had planned on, Draco tugged the girl closer and wrapped his arm around her, as if to make sure that she would not be able to get away from him.

If he had known that this would work so well he would have used the method to silence her much sooner. But who could know that a know-it-all actually could kiss so well?

**)00(**

Harry landed on a hard ground and it was only his grip on Severus' arm which ensured that he stayed on his feet instead of landing on his butt. Closing his eyes Harry breathed deeply through his nose while trying to calm down his stomach. He had no need to see this day's breakfast again.

He opened his eyes when Severus freed his arm and only then Harry realised how hard he had been gripping the other man's arm. Mumbling a quick apology Harry instead turned his attention to their new surroundings.

Green eyes widened when Harry realised where they were and he took a step back, already prepared to flee from the place as fast as possible.

It was the sodding graveyard.

The graveyard had been place for many of his nightmares and despite the scenery being so different from that night Harry still felt his breath quicken as he remembered the night of Voldemort's rebirth. He was happy to have his lover back but it had been a painful experience and Cedric's death had been unnecessary.

Shaking his head to clear it from thoughts Harry took several deep breaths to calm himself. It had happened many years ago and he did not understand why he remembered it so clearly now. Now was not the time for him to sink down in his memories. "Do not act like a typical Gryffindor would, Evan. A new portkey will be given to you when you are returning to the cottage." Grimacing Harry nodded. "I will take care of myself Severus, Say hello to Luna and Hermione from me."

The potion master just nodded before disappearing from view. Harry guessed that Severus had used the portkey since the man had made it clear that one would not be able to apparate out of here.

Wrapping the cloak closer around his shivering body Harry started walking towards the house loaming on top of the hill. Knowing what had happened inside the house made Harry feel uneasy, it could also be an after effect of the portkey. He ignored the graves he passed. All of them were probably muggles, and even if that was not the case Harry doubted that he would be able to recognise the names anyway.

Reaching the front door and not seeing any sign of a guard Harry hesitated. He did not doubt that Severus had taken him to the correct location. It just seemed weird to him that such an important meeting was about to be held here and yet there was nothing to stop any intruders from entering. But Severus had mentioned something about some wards, perhaps he would have time to take a closer look at those later on. For all he knew traps were spread all over the place and he should probably be thankful that he had not stepped on one of them.

With that thought Harry placed a hand on the door handle and opened the door.

The hallway was unnaturally dark and Harry squinted his eyes a little in the hope of seeing better. Taking a careful step inside he flinched violently when the door slammed close behind him, leaving him in complete darkness. Before he could react hands closed around his waist and lifted him up so his feet were no longer touching the floor.

Unable to see what was going on and who was attacking him, Harry urged his magic forwards, using it to push his attacker away from him. Harry landed on his feet just as he heard the person who had attacked him hit something which broke.

Breathing fast and feeling like his heart was trying to beat its way out through his chest Harry stepped back until his back was pressed against the wall. His eyes darted around in the dark while he tried to figure out what was going on. Severus would not have left him if this was not the correct location. Had someone betrayed them then? If that was the case then who was it and what had happened to Voldemort and the others?

A low chuckle cut through his panicked thoughts and the light in the small hallway was turned on. Harry blinked several times and he turned his head trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. "You." Harry hissed nearly slipping over into Parseltongue when he realised who it was who had attacked him.

Lord Sanguini sat on the floor with his back against the wall with his face mixed with confusion and amusement, as if not entirely sure what he was supposed to feel. Next to the vampire pieces of what had once been a blue vase lay on the floor.

"So this is the little magical mortal whom you have been talking so much about lately. I see why he has caught your interest. Not everybody is able to defend themselves against vampires that way." Harry's eyes narrowed further when they sought out the one speaking. As far as he could judge it was the same who had been laughing at him when he had forced lord Sanguini away.

From the shadows what looked to be a mere child stepped forth. The boy looked like a person taken out of a picture from the Victorian time. The strawberry blonde hair seemed to make the red eyes a deeper shade of red, the only proof that the child was a vampire. It was not the same warm red as Voldemort's, or the bloody shade Sanguini had, although it came close to the other vampire's, only a few shades lighter. Although the child was smaller than him, he looked eight at the most, Harry had a feeling that the vampire boy was not someone to cross. He may look like a child but there was no way to tell how old he really was.

"Do not talk about me like I am some animal you can look at like you wish to." Harry finally snapped and he did not move as both vampires looked at him before sharing a look. "Only you would pick a human who holds no respect for our kind." Rolling his eyes while Sanguini was picking himself up from the floor Harry answered. "Respect has to be earned, it is not freely given."

"I told you he would be fun. Little wizard could you please remove the stick from my brother's arse?"

"Someone has to act like an adult, Sanguini, and since you, as the older of the two of us, refuses to do so it is my duty."

Confused Harry looked from one vampire to the other. The two of them looked nothing alike. Of course it did not have to mean that they were not related, one could just take him and the Dursleys as an example. Shuddering at the thought of looking anything like Dudley Harry ignored the looks the two vampires sent him. At least they had stopped bickering which he was thankful for.

"Anyway." The still unnamed vampire said. "We better get going since the last person has finally arrived." The vampire disappeared, leaving Harry and Sanguini together. "Well, if you will be so kind to follow me. I will take us to our destination."

Having only seen parts of the house years ago in a dream and having no idea of where the meeting was being held Harry decided to take the vampire up on his offer. When they left the hallway and stepped into a new room Harry stopped abruptly. "How come you are not burning up?" Harry stared at the vampire who was standing in a sunray, grinning at him. "It is a wonderful invention called sun cream. It allows one to be in the sun without being turned into ash."

Harry nodded but was otherwise silent as Sanguini lead him through the house. It looked different from the last time he had seen it. Of course it had been through another person's eyes and it had been dark at that time. But someone, probably the houseelves, had taken the time to clean up the place and throw out the broken inventory. Now the place almost looked liveable.

They reached what looked to be an old library. It did not look nearly as old as some of those he had seen before, but for a muggle one, he guessed it was pretty impressive. In the middle of the library there was a round table which made him think of King Arthur and his knights. If Harry remembered correctly the table had been used to show that everyone was equal, even the king. He wondered if that also was the case here.

Harry's eyes wandered over the assembled people. Fenrir and Remus were sitting next to each other on the other side of the table. Both were dressed in what looked to be their best robes and from the look on Fenrir's face Harry guessed that it had been Remus' idea. To his surrogate godfather's left two tall persons with white hair and pale skin were seated. The woman's pointed ears made Harry guess that she and the man to her left were elves although it was the first time he actually saw one. Harry wondered where he would be able to find a veela so he could find out which one would be the most beautiful.

Next to the elves Harry recognised Ragnok and what he guessed was supposed to be a female version of the goblins. Despite his work with the goblins Harry had never gotten to see a female goblin. If not for the clothes he would easily have mistaken her for a male. Sanguini had already taken seat next to the female goblin and to his left was the unnamed vampire and next to him was Voldemort.

Seeing that only one chair was free Harry walked around the table and sat down, only too aware of how much Voldemort and Fenrir were towering over him. Looking around Harry realised that the centaurs were missing. Perhaps it was for the best. Harry had a hard time imagining Bane inside a house and listening to their talks about the stars would only take up important time.

When he sat down a cup with a white substance appeared on the table in front of him. Being thirsty and seeing no reason to why he should not drink Harry tasted the drink. He placed the cup back on the table and glared at Voldemort out of the corner of his eyes. Trust Voldemort to make sure that he got milk, like he was some child or a cat. Voldemort reacted at the glare with an amused smirk. At least it seemed like the man was having fun out of this.

"Now where we are all assembled we can start this meeting. We are assembled here today because we wish to change the world we are living in. The ministry seeks to control us and I know that you have all felt this to some degree. Most of this is because of this muggle friendly politic." Voldemort said, effectively getting the attention of all the people in the room." Muggleborns and halfbloods are a danger to our society because they pass back and forth between the worlds."

Despite the many talks he had had with Voldemort about what needed to be done Harry felt himself tense. Until now Voldemort had not clearly told him what his goals for the war were. And although the man had been listening to Harry's ideas the green eyed wizard had no idea if Voldemort had taken them to him or not.

"They need to decided between one world or the other and reside there. If you work in the Wizarding world then you should not live in the muggle world. We are more powerful than them but should our world be discovered they have a higher number and technology which can stand up against us. It would be a witch hunt all over again." A look around the table showed Harry that all the others were listening with grave faces before turning his attention back to Voldemort and what the man was saying.

"Muggleborn and halfblood children with a muggle parent should be checked on to ensure that the muggles are treating them right. Humans act out against what they do not understand. While some might be living with happy families there are some which are not as lucky." Here Voldemort cast a meaningful look at Harry who looked right back. "Those families should be observed closely when we know a child has magic so we can make sure that the child is safe and well treated. Should there be any sign of abuse the child should be moved, either together with the other parent or taken from both of them and be placed with a magical family. Also the child should attend a school when it reaches the age of five where it will be brought up to the level of a child who grew up in our world."

Harry wondered how different his life would have been if the ministry had been run like this when his parents died. It was doubtful that the Dursleys would have passed those investigations. He could have had a normal, or at least as normal as was possible for him, childhood. And a school before Hogwarts would definitely have been better than being thrusted into a strange world without having an idea about what was going on.

"And just how should this change anything or ensure that we would not be exposed?" Harry's attention snapped over to the elves as the spoke for the first time. Harry was surprised to see that they moved in synchrony and even spoke as if they were one being. Voldemort did not look irritated at the question, instead it looked like he had been expecting the question to come.

"By including the muggleborns and halfbloods in our world there is a lesser risk of them returning to the muggleworld and therefore the risk of being exposed is much smaller than it otherwise would. But this is not something which can be done by the Wizarding kind alone. You will help yourself by helping us. Think about it, more people will be forced to recognise you for what you are when they see how you all help with protecting our world and the children. Instead of being faced with restriction and scorns everywhere you turn they will have to respect you for what you are and what you are doing."

Harry saw how the words seemed to hit home. The Wizarding world was placing itself in this situation by how anyone less than a hundred percent magic and human was being treated. And he would not feel sorry for them once the other shoe fell.

"While the words holds merits it will not help anything unless we find a way to crush the ministry."

"But even when the ministry falls we will still not have won the war. As long as Dumbledore is standing people would keep fighting against us. Despite what has been done to change people's opinion of him they still see Dumbledore as the defeater of the great evil. They will seek him out when they feel that they are in danger."

Harry sat back in the chair, trying to ignore the stares which were directed at him. "I agree with the little wizard." Sanguini said, ignoring the way said wizard bristled at the nickname, although Harry was thankful that the vampire had broken the silence around the table and taken the focus away from him. "The pup is right. The best way to ensure our victory would be to get rid of both on the same time or at least so close to each other that no one has a chance to be prepared."

"Why Wolfie, I never thought that a moon howler would ever agree with one like me." Sanguini baited Fenrir and Harry suddenly understood why they had not been placed next to each other.

"What, you mean a blood drinking pale and bald leach?" Both Remus and the unnamed vampire rolled their eyes and shared a look between them with a heavy sigh. It was clear that they had both been waiting for this to happen. Remus placed a hand on his mate's arm to calm his mate, but also to stop Fenrir from jumping over the table and attack the vampire. The nameless vampire stood up and took hold of Sanguini's ear. "Please excuse us but it seem like it will be a good idea to take a break unless we want a war to break out in this very room."

"I guess a break for quarter of an hour would do us all good." Voldemort agreed and quickly both Sanguini and Fenrir were dragged out of the room, leaving Harry with the elves, Voldemort and the two goblins.

Smiling to his lover Harry stood from the chair and walked over to Ragnok and the female goblin. "Evan, may I present you to my wife, Abgork." Harry bowed to the female goblin. "May gold always fill your accounts."

"And may your enemies fear your sword."

"What did you decided that you wanted to come to this meeting?" Harry was honestly interested. He had sent a letter to Ragnok the morning before he had ventured out with Draco to seek out the centaurs. Even if the goblin had said no Harry trusted Ragnok not to tell anybody else about this meeting or anything else. It seemed like he was right to place such a trust on his friend. "If more people stayed in the Wizarding world they would be more inclined to use Gringotts for their money instead of some muggle bank. Also most of us are tired of the way we are being treated. Wizards and witches alike tend to forget who it is who is protecting their money. This way Gringotts will be able to increase the amount of gold in our accounts." Harry nodded, not the slightest bit surprised by the goblin's answer. One could trust Ragnok and any other goblin to turn this into a matter of money and gold. That was somewhat the only thing they really cared about.

Feeling someone behind him Harry turned around and came face to face with Voldemort. Like himself the dark lord was dressed in black robes although Voldemort's were made out of a finer material than Harry's. But Draco had only been able to do so much with such a short warning. "If you do not mind then I will borrow my companion for the rest of the break."

At Ragnok' nod, Voldemort grabbed Harry's arm and lead the smaller wizard out of the library, through a third door which Harry had not noticed before now. Wondering what his lover was on about Harry followed the man in silence. Voldemort was walking in front of him, keeping his grip on Harry's hand gentle, but yet it was strong enough to make sure that Harry would not have been able to get away if that had been what he had wanted.

Harry suddenly found himself slammed up against a wall, lifted up so his toes were only just touching the floor. Warm lips claimed his and Harry only willingly opened his mouth when he felt Voldemort's tongue demand entrance. Harry placed his arms around Voldemort's neck while wrapping his legs around the dark lord's waist. Feeling Voldemort's hands wander up and down his sides Harry shivered. He had a feeling that there was something which he was supposed to remember but right now he found it hard to recall what it was supposed to be.

Breaking off when they both felt the need for air Harry rested his head against Voldemort's chest while he felt the man's chin on top of his head. "You know despite it having not been so long since the last time we saw each other it still feels like far too long since the last time we have been together, if you know what I mean." Voldemort chuckled, making the man's chest rumble in a pleasant way. "Perhaps we should just abandon this meeting and find a secluded place for just the two of us?"

"Do you really believe that we will be able to win the war without you?" Harry asked while letting his fingers play with the buttons of Voldemort's outer robes. While the man' suggestion was worth thinking about Harry knew that it was not a possibility. "Absolutely not. Without us there they would kill each other. You saw what happened in there, think about what would happen if no one was there to stop them."

Although Harry felt that Voldemort was exaggerating he nodded nonetheless. "What a shame." This close to Voldemort Harry could easily feel the man's arousal despite the layers of clothes between them and the dark lord was probably in the same situation. If not because he feared that someone would walk in on them he would have said yes to Voldemort's offer without a second thought. But the thought of Remus finding them was enough to make Harry determined. It was bad enough that Fenrir and his surrogate godfather had not bothered with a little privacy charm when Harry had visited them. And he was sure that he would never survive it should it be Sanguini. The vampire would never let him live it down. Of course that would mean that Sanguini would have to escape his companion before it could happen but Harry found it better just to be safe.

"But after this there is nothing which is going to stop us from doing whatever we feel like doing." Voldemort's deep voice cut through his thoughts and again Harry nodded, this time not saying anything. Instead he leaned closer to Voldemort, enjoying the closeness the two of them were sharing. He wished that they could stay like this forever and undisturbed although he knew that it was unlikely to be fulfilled. But that did not stop him from making the wish anyway.

He wondered how long it would be before any of the others would come looking for them. Either because they wanted to talk with them or because the duo would be late for the meeting. Harry had a strong feeling in his gut that it would be the last thing.

**)00(**

The portkey took Severus directly back to the living room in Evan's cottage. The grown man landed steadily on his feet, having used portkeys as a mean for travelling since he was nothing more than a small child.

Dark eyes slid around the room and despite the fact that there seemed to be nothing out of order his wand still jumped into his hand as if it had a life on its own. The place was oddly silent and knowing who he had left back when he took Evan away Severus found it enough reason to be worried. His godson and Granger could not be in the same room for more than five minutes before they started arguing with each other. In some way they reminded him of Narcissa and Lucius had been when the pair had first found out that they were engaged to each other. They had acted like cat and dog whenever they had been in the Slytherin common room. Severus wondered if they would have gotten together if not because they had both decided on getting him as a part of their relationship.

Falling into spy mode Severus sneaked forward, his wand raised and ready to cast the first curse which came to his mind. He had several he had come up with himself which still needed a living person to test on. Although he did not wish for any harm to fall on his godson Severus would not say no if that gave him the opportunity to test some of the curses. Quite a few of them were designed to be painful.

Severus left the living room, already knowing that there would be nothing for him to see there. He guessed that the best place to start was where he last had seen Draco and Ms. Granger. But he would check everywhere else on his way on there to make sure that he would not get any unpleasant surprises.

Having walked through the whole cottage enough times to know it as well as his own potion stock Severus avoided stepping on any of the places he knew would give his position away. Most Wizarding families got those spots repaired or cast a silencing charm on them. But it seemed like that Evan had learned that such things would be able to alert him that someone was in the cottage. But with the level of noise which normally was in the cottage Severus guessed that it did not make much of a difference.

As a dark and silent shadow Severus moved up the stairs. He kept his breathing even too light to be heard by a normal wizard or witch. Reaching the top of the stairs Severus allowed himself to breathe out when something had yet to happen. Until now nothing out of order had happened other than the missing youngsters. Narcissa would kill him if she found out that something had happened to her son when the boy was in his care.

The potion master was not sure who would be the worst, Voldemort or Narcissa. Both would probably have his head if something happened to either boy. The dark lord could put him through torture before killing him. But Narcissa was one of his lovers and could deny him sex for an unknown period of time.

Shuddering at that fact and deciding that it was not the time for such thoughts. He could worry about his sexlife after he had found out what had happened to Draco and possible also the two girls. Evan would probably not be happy if something had happened to his friends. Wondering when he had started fearing a mere teen's reaction Severus stopped in the middle of the hallway when he caught sight of Hubert, who was standing outside the door leading to what had once been Evan's room.

The ghost looked up when Severus stepped closer and the potion master was sure that if the ghost had been alive it would have been just as pale as it already was. "Where are the children Hubert?" Normally he would not have been so harsh with his dead relative but although he tried to deny it Severus was actually worried about what could have happened to the youngsters. "Luna, I believe her name was, is out in the gardens, looking for some nargles."

"And Draco and Ms. Granger?"

Hubert spluttered but did not come with an actual answer. He gestured to the closed door before disappearing through the floor, leaving Severus alone in the hallway. Knowing that it would do him no good to hunt down the ghost and find out what was going on, Severus decided that he might just do it the easy way.

With that decision made Severus opened the door, making sure that it made no sound to alert the people in there about his arrival.

Looking inside the room Severus decided that he had not had to make such a deal out of being silent. With the scene which met him when he opened the door he doubted very much that they would have heard him if he had slammed the door open.

His godson was standing with his back to the door and thereby him. The blond Slytherin had his arms wrapped around another person's body. The only thing which gave the other person's identity away was the frizzy, brown hair which seemed to be everywhere. Taking a little step into the room Severus' black eyes widened when he saw that the two's mouths were connected.

Not feeling the need to be caught red handed watching the two making out Severus stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him, just as silently as he first had entered it. With how concentrated the pair had been on each other he doubted very much that they would notice him, but Severus was not about to take a chance. The first time he had walked in on such a scene he had ended up being in a relationship with two purebloods who until that time had not been able to stand each other.

Shaking his head Severus decided to stay out of this. Draco might be his son, but he would let Lucius deal with this mess. Of course that would mean that the Malfoy lord would have to figure out that his son was not as innocent as he and his wife believed.

Shaking his head Severus went outside. He figured that by the time he had found Ms. Lovegood and gotten her inside to pack her trunk the two lover birds upstairs would be finished. If not he knew several legal and still light hexes which he had not used since his Hogwarts time. If nothing else that should be enough to make them move and when he had taken the girls to the train station he would give Draco a talk about the bees and the flowers. With parents like Narcissa and Lucius it was not to be sure what the boy actually knew about relationships. As the only child even he could see that Draco was a little spoiled, and he was the boy's godfather. Perhaps the two of them would actually be good for each other. At least they would use their energy on something else than fighting with each other most of the time.

**Sorry to say it people but this story is heading towards its end. Funny thing is that it has been heading that way since I wrote the first chapter. **


	26. Chapter 26

**Another chapter, another step closer. Please read it and tell me what you think about it.**

**Warning: Torture and someone is going to die.**

**Disclaimer: Me own nothing, me is going to sit in a dark corner and cry. **

**Beta: ****angelhitomie**

Feeling like he was coughing up ash from the depths of his lungs Harry fell out of the fireplace. He sprawled out on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, not entirely sure how he had managed to end like this when he had used the floo like every other person would have done. Perhaps he should ask Draco to go through the floo until he figured out what the trick was. From what Severus had said at the graveyard earlier this day it had something to do with having grown up with the way of travelling. But Tom and thereby Voldemort had never had that kind of troubles.

Harry was one hundred percent sure it was a conspiracy against him. He could just see it in front of his inner eye. The leaders of magical non flying travelling were having a meeting where they would plot against him. They would sit around a round table and stray from the subject most of the time before turning back to it.

Snickering at the thought Harry sat up. He doubted very much that anyone would follow him through the floo and did therefore not bother with moving away from his spot on the floor. Besides he enjoyed where he was, right in front of the now orange fire, warm and cosy.

The meeting had gone surprisingly well, if he should say it himself. But it had taken much more time than it needed to. Harry blamed it on Fenrir and Sanguini. Despite their attempts the two of them had not managed to do any real harm to each other, not for the lack of trying. Harry guessed that it was because of Remus and Nero, as he had discovered the other vampire was called. Every time it had seemed like a fight would break out one of the two, a few times it had been both, had called for a break and dragged their spluttering partner out of the room.

What was done to the two fighting Harry never found out. Every time they left Harry found himself dragged in another direction by Voldemort, who would molest him as soon as they were out of view.

A blush covered Harry's face when he realised that with the enchanted senses the werewolves and vampires had probably been able to smell his arousal. That explained the looks Remus had been giving him since the first break. Groaning Harry hoped that no one would mention it the next time he met any of them or he feared that the blush would become a permanent part of him.

"You are late." Grinning Harry turned around and met the gaze of Severus, who was sitting in an armchair facing the fireplace. How long the potion master had sat there Harry had no idea about. For all he knew the man could have been there before he had arrived. From the stack of potion journals on the table next to the man, Harry would say that there was a great chance for this. "Did you miss me?"

Harry rolled his shoulders which were slightly sore from his fall out of the fireplace. One would think that he was at least used to the landings by now but that did not seem to be the case. "And just why would I miss you? I have enjoyed the silence and have been able to use my time constructively now where there have been no brats around to disturb me."

"How did getting Luna and Hermione to the train station go?" Harry regretted not being able to see his friends off. But the meeting had been important and he trusted Severus to make sure that nothing would happen to his friends as long as the man could avoid it. "It went well. I escorted Ms. Lovegood and Ms. Granger to the train station where Mr. Lovegood was waiting for us and he took the girls the rest of the way. No one recognised me and I made sure that no one was watching me or able to follow me when I apparated back here."

Mutely Harry nodded. Somehow he could not really claim that he had been surprised that Severus had gone through such lengths. The man was an experienced spy and he knew how to take care of himself and others. And though Harry did not like the thought of his friends being so close to Dumbledore he guessed that there was not much which he could do about it. And since Dumbledore had no reason to believe that they did not trust him, the man had no reason to watch Hermione and Luna, or, did he dare to think it, harm them.

Aware of the potion master watching him, why he had no idea about, Harry stood and stretched his body to its full length. Despite the many breaks they had had his body was still stiff after sitting still for so long. He needed to do something to burn off some of the energy he had. But he also knew that Severus was waiting to hear how the meeting had gone, and the man would probably not let him leave the room before he had told every single detail there was.

Sighing Harry took a few steps and let himself fall down onto the couch. If he stood for too long he would start bouncing on the walls and he had a strong feeling that Severus would not appreciate that. "It went well, all things considering." Severus said nothing, but raised an eyebrow, silently urging him to continue talking. "They agreed to gather the troops in two weeks from now to take over the ministry. At the same time a smaller group will sneak into Hogwarts, if everything goes as planned Dumbledore and the ministry will fall before the day is over."

"And is supposed to do what?" Harry hesitated. He had not been told that he could not include Severus or anybody else in the plan. And since Severus would be a part of the attack, Harry guessed that he would get to know about it anyway. No matter how he looked at it he was unable to see any reason not to tell the potion master what he knew.

"Since the wards around Hogwarts are made to keep any unwanted creatures out who does not have permission to enter, the werewolves, lead by Fenrir and Remus, together with the vampires and elves will go to the ministry together with most of the wizards and witches. The goblins will attack from another side since they have a special entrance to the ministry. But they will have to break the barrier which stops them all from coming through down. Since it undoubtly will raise some alarms they are not to do it before the attack has started. That way no one has a chance of being warned before it is too late."

Knowing that he had the man's full attention Harry continued speaking. "Meanwhile the centaurs will create a distraction at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. While most peoples' attention is elsewhere two groups will enter Hogwarts through a secret passage."  
"And where would this hidden passage be?"

Harry grinned. "The one we will be using is the one with an opening in Hogsmeade, which will lead us directly into Hogwarts. But I will have to check out if the passage is still useable. There is another one, but it is too risky. We will have to cross open ground and would be an easy target for anyone who sees us, and believe me, they would not be able to miss seeing us. But I do not understand why we cannot also use the passage which Draco and the others rescued me through." He had tried to ask Voldemort but the man had brushed off the suggestion without even coming with an explanation to why. "Because, Evan, Salazar's passage can only be used from the inside of Hogwarts. It was to ensure that no one would be able to sneak in to murder the students."  
"And we all know how well that worked. Just think on Sirius, he managed to sneak into Hogwarts without being detected and although he did not want to harm anyone else than Wormtail it is still an example that Hogwarts is not as safe as it should be."  
"Let me remind you that Hogwarts is supposed to be the safest place next to Gringotts."

Harry snorted before he was able to stop himself. "Honestly. First year, Voldemort managed to be employed as our teacher in Defence Against the Dark Arts and a mountain troll was on the loose. Second year, a huge basilisk running wild on Hogwarts with no one there to stop it. Third year, an accused murder managed to get into the school and the dementors. Fourth year, the whole Triwizard torment and the portkey to a graveyard. Fifth year, Umbridge."  
"Although Umbridge was a pest, she cannot be considered a danger."

Lifting his left hand so Severus could see the scars on his hand Harry looked at the potion master. "Blood quills. And I am willing to bet that I am not the only one who is running around with scars like this, as I was not the only one who had detention with her." Severus's skin seemed paler than it normally would but that could also be the light. "Blood quills have been illegal for years. She could be thrown into Azkaban for using them. And to force children to use them could end with her getting a dementor's kiss." Harry frowned. "I did not know that."  
"I can ensure you, Evan, that if she survives this war, she will be dealt with, although if some people know about this already it is not sure that she will live for so long." None of them had to say who those people were.

"And who would be in the group attacking Hogwarts?"Running a hand through his hair Harry wondered when this interrogation would end. "Depending on whether Dumbledore will be at Hogwarts or not, Voldemort will be with us, otherwise he will be with the group attacking the ministry together with the others. Since you and Lucius are both well known at the school you will be in the group as two of the three who are supposed to lead the attack at Hogwarts."  
"And who might the third be?" Harry shifted. "Me, since the twins and I know about nearly every way in and out of the school we will lead you through the secret passages. Once inside we will split up in three smaller groups and take over Hogwarts."

Saying it like this it almost sounded simple but Harry knew that it would be far from it. No matter what he hoped that Dumbledore would be there. Although Voldemort had taken dips on the headmaster the man would not be able to do anything if Harry reached the old man first. Reasoing his idea on having spent so much time around Slytherins. But he wanted revenge for all the pain Dumbledore had inflicted on his beloved and him.

"No matter what, I suggest you are careful. Even if professor Dumbledore is not at the school, taking over Hogwarts will be no small feat. Since it is in the middle of the school year all the professors and the students will be there and they will undoubtly fight back with all their might."  
"I know. In case you have forgotten I trained a part of them. So we can expect some real resistance if they remember their lessons."  
"If you are speaking about the same dunderheads as I taught I will advise you not to get too hopeful about that." Harry grinned. "Remember, I was one of those so called dunderheads."  
"As if I could ever forget that, and you were included in that group."

Huffing Harry crossed his arms. "If it shall be like this I think I will just leave you. Where is Draoc? I have not seen anything of him since I returned." Harry said and looked around as if he expected the blond to pop up just because he was talking about him. "He would be in his room, feel free to search him out if that is what you want."  
"Thanks Severus." Harry said as he jumped up from the couch and headed upstairs. Perhaps Draco would be able to help him with getting rid of some of his energy. "I will go and find him then." Severus opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it again with a shake of his head. "Just go, I have a few I will floo calls to make so stay away from the living room or I will have you scrubbing cauldrons for the rest of this year." Nodding Harry hurried out of the room as fast as his legs could carry him. He felt no need to see if Severus would carry out with the treat.

As expected he found Draco in Harry's old room. To his surprise nearly nothing had changed. If Draco's belongings were removed it would be back to its old self. He raised an eyebrow, not really surprised when he saw a big mirror hanging on the wall. It looked like it belonged to the Malfoy manor rather than in some little cottage like this. Silver snakes made out the frame and Harry wondered if they would answer if he tried to talk to them. It would be an experiment for another day.

Looking around he found Draco sprawled out on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Harry raised the other eyebrow when the blond did not seem to notice his arival. Most of the times Draco would know if someone tried to sneak up on him but the blond had a faraway look in his eyes. He would probably not even notice it if a bomb blew up next to him. But then again, he would probably die by that so Harry guessed that it did not matter.

Harry sat down at the edge of the bed before lying down next to the blond. "So anything happened while I was gone?" Harry watched with interest as a weak blush coloured Draco otherwise pale cheeks. Interest peeked, Harry raised himself up on an elbow and rested his head on his hand so he better could look at the other boy. "Nothing of interest happened." Draco answered without looking away from the ceiling. "Really?" Harry drawled, knowing that something had happened despite what the Malfoy heir had claimed.

Draco huffed and rolled over so they were staring at each other before mimicking Harry's position. "How did the meeting go?" Harry grinned before answering the question. "Nothing of interest happened." Harry felt like his face was going to split from how wide his grin was. "Harry."  
"Draco."  
"Potter."

"Malfoy."  
"Scarface."  
"Back to the old name calling, ferret?"

Harry yelped in surprise when he found himself pushed off the bed. He groaned when he landed on the floor. With his luck he was probably going to bruise.

Looking up he found Draco staring down at him from the top of the bed. Before Draco had time to react Harry sat up and grabbed Draco's collar before yanking the blond out of the bed.

The air was knocked out of Harry's lungs when Draco landed on top of him and Harry cursed in his mind before he had not thought this through. Because of this miscalculation he was now pinned to the floor with a blond on top of him. Poking into Draco's side Harry spoke. "Move."  
"You know, I am rather comfortable here."  
"You are heavy." Harry watched as Draco's face gained a shade which strangely reminded him of uncle Vernon. Harry wondered how Draco would react to be compared to a muggle. Although Draco did not know Vernon Harry held little to no doubt that Draco would not see it as a compliment. "A Malfoy is not heavy. Our bodies are well cared for and therefore perfect."  
"So that is the reason to why you take of the bathroom most of the mornings." Harry wisely kept his mouth closed when Draco was staring at him. He knew how far to push the blond and whatever had happened while he was away had certainly had some kind of an impact on Draco.

Harry waited until he had caught his breath to speak again, because of Draco's elbows in his sides it took longer than Harry would have liked it to. "How about we make a deal? You tell me what happened while I was gone and I will tell you what happened at the meeting. That way we both get what we want." The blond lifted his head with a grimace before meeting his gaze. "You have a deal, Harry."

**)00(**

Cursing in his mind Harry clung with all his might to the robe clad arm holding him. For every step the boy took Harry was jostled and he felt the boy wince when he dug his claws into the arm to make sure that he would not fall. This was not what he had imagined when he had asked Draco for help to get to the hidden passage in Hogsmeade.

Technically Harry knew that he could do it himself, he had sneaked back and forth between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade several times before in the past. But at those times he had still had his invisible cloak. Harry wondered what had happened to his things after he had been declared dead. He guessed that Voldemort had them in his possession. Next time Harry saw him he would ask to get the things back, as they were rightfully his and some of them were the only memories he had of his parents and Sirius.

But back to his current situation. When Draco had agreed on getting him into Honeydukes Harry had thought of many way to how Draco would do this but none of the guessed had been close to this.

After their talk Draco had made some floo calls, after making sure that Severus was finished first, to their Slytherin year mates. This was the reason why Harry now found himself surrounded by what could only be described as snakes in human forms. Pansy and Draco were walking in the front of the group, making the perfect picture of a group although they were not. And if Harry found out that they were just not pretending heads would soon be rolling.

Blaise was holding him, although Harry could easily tell that the Italian boy had no idea about how to hold one at his size. Next to Blaise Theodor Nott was walking, being oddly quiet although Harry was not sure why. On the other hand, Nott had always seemed like the quiet type to him.

At the end of the group were Crabbe and Goyle. The two boys were like silent walking walls. Harry did not claim to know those two as well as he knew Draco, he guessed that they had their uses. Most would think a second time before considering attacking them when Crabbe and Goyle were with them.

On one of Draco's shoulders a big and black owl was perched. Harry knew that he had often compared Ares and Severus to each other. But never had he imagined that Severus' animagus form would look so much as the dead owl. They could have been twins if not because Severus was a human. On the other hand he had had no proof that Ares had not really been a human. For all Harry knew Ares could have transformed whenever Harry and Tom had left the cottage or whenever the owl had been away.

It could also just be that he was overly nervous and therefore his thoughts were running wild at the moment.

Harry himself was in his animagus form. He guessed that he could have walked with the others as a human. But in this form he would easily move around without detection. If people saw him they would only see a small kitten out on adventure and think nothing more about it. Besides, even if it was not a Hogsmeade weekend Harry would not risk being recognised by anyone. He had been lucky when he had sought out Hagrid, but even Harry knew that his luck could not last forever. This task was too important for anything to go wrong.

Silently Harry watched as wizards and witches passed them without sparring them more than a few glances. A few stopped up and stared at them, but not seeing any Hogwarts robes they did nothing. Was it really so easy to walk around when one did obviously still belong to Hogwarts? Or perhaps it was because all the Slytherins were well known and people already knew that they were no longer students at Hogwarts.

As they entered Honeydukes Harry decided that it was not for him to worry about. The scents of several kinds of sweets hit his nose and made Harry mewl in longing. He could not remember the last time he had eaten sweets. It had to be before he had been sent back to his own time. Perhaps he would be able to nag some sweets from one of the Slytherins later on. He would try with Pansy, the girl would probably give in if he was in his animagus form.

There were fewer people inside the shop than Harry remembered. It could have something to do with the fact that all students were back at the school now and therefore they were not able to fill up the shop. Looking around Harry saw an older man who was leaning heavily on his cane of wood. Two small children were hanging in their mother's skirt and looking around in the shop as if they did not believe all the wonders they were seeing.

Feeling Blaise's grip on him loose Harry fell and landed safely on his paws. Before anyone saw him or got a chance to grab him Harry disappeared between the rows of candies. The faster he got over with this, the faster they could get back to the cottage and he would be able to get some candy.

With that thought in the back of his mind Harry followed his nose which led him to the basement of Honeydukes. Harry stared at his surrounding and had he been able to in his animagus form he would have frowned. It seemed like Ambrosius Flume had made a few changes in the room since the last time he had been there. Several boxes with what looked to be different kind of sweets were placed on the spot where he knew the entrance to the secret passageway to Hogwarts would be.

Sighing Harry looked around to make sure that no one was around to see him before he changed into his human form. Until now Harry had never tried using his magic while being in his animagus form and he had a feeling that now was not the best time to start experimenting on it.

Being human again Harry knew that he would have to hurry. Although Draco and the other Slytherins were supposed to keep those upstairs busy for a while, he knew that they would not be able to keep them away for forever. "It is a good thing that I am used to work in pressed situations." Harry mumbled to himself, before levitating the boxes with a simple wave of his hand.

The floor escape hatches came to view and Harry smirked. Until now things were going rather smoothly. Perhaps this time luck was really on his side. Quickly walking the small distance to the trapdoor Harry opened it. He stared down at the staircase made out of stone. It looked completely safe to him, but he should probably go through it to see if it really was okay. He could imagine how they would use the passageway on the day for the attack and suddenly find them in some kind of a trap made by Dumbledore. No, it was better to be safe, and he was sure that the owners would be distracted until he came back again.

Harry jumped down through the trap and landed in a crouching position. He let the trapdoor close and the boxes settled down on top of it. They would stay like that until he returned and no one would be any the wiser.

Knowing that he should not waste more time than he had probably already done Harry started walking down the staircase he knew would lead him to Hogwarts. He sent small waves out in front of him to check that the way was safe. Finding nothing Harry continued walking. The walk through the passage was long and Harry quickly got bored. Instead of counting the steps like he had done before, Harry already knew that there would be too many for him to count without losing interest, Harry started humming.

It was one of the melodies he had heard while gardening aunt Petunia's garden. Harry remembered that day. It had been before he had gone to Hogwarts or even knew that such a thing as wizards, dark lords and dragons existed.

Vernon and Dudley had been out for the day and Petunia had been inside, entertaining one of the neighbour women who had nothing better to do than to share gossip about the other people who lived in the same street.

Harry guessed that he had been seven or eight at that time. It had been summer, since it had been rather hot and he had not been in school. But while he had been concentrating on finishing the chore before Vernon returned a song from the radio in the kitchen had reached his ear and Harry had found himself humming half singing along on the melody.

"Over the rainbow, something I cannot remember." Harry stopped frowned, he would have to see if he could not figure out what the song had been about. It was rather distracting to try and remember the song when he actually had other things he probably should be focussing on right now.

Stopping abruptly Harry blinked when he realised that there was nothing more in front of him. Or rather, there was a big wall in front of him. A wall which looking too solid for one to get through unless you were a ghost. Or unless you knew how to get through.

Although he did no longer have a wand Harry decided to get a chance. It was a long time since he had used this passage but he still remembered how to get through to the other side from his many outings in Hogsmeade while he had still been a student at Hogwarts. He had even used a passage a few times in the past when he had wanted to see Tom. Of course the Slytherin had thought that he went through the front door like everybody else. But Harry could not just spill his secrets to everybody. Then they would no longer be his secrets.

Until now everything had gone smoothly and without any problems. Harry knew that he probably should turn around and go back to Draco and the others. He had done what he had come for. There were no traps and the passageway would be safe for them to use when the day for the attack came. Therefore he should probably head back now so the Slytherins would not have to wait for him any longer. Harry guessed that Severus was about to be tired of being in his animagus form.

But Harry wanted to make sure that nothing would go wrong. He had a nagging feeling that if he did not go all the way he could end up regretting it someday. It could be that Dumbledore had not been able to figure out how to gain entrance to the secret passageway but had managed to do so that one would not be able to get through if they wanted to.

Casting a tempus Harry noticed with satisfaction that most students would probably be in class by now. And those who were not had no reason to be near the stairs to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. He also needed to know if he could get the one eyed witch statue to move although he did no longer have his wand with him.

Taking a deep breath Harry placed a hand on the wall. "Dissendium." Harry watched as the wall in front of him moved and revealed the hallway. Sticking his head out Harry looked around, assuring himself that no one was around and therefore no one knew what was happening. As he had thought most of the students were probably in class by now as were the professors. Those who had a free lesson were either in their common rooms, the library, outside or hanging around somewhere where the professor would not just come around without warning.

Not wanting to push his luck more than he already had Harry stepped back and watched as the passage closed in front of him. Leaving no sign that there was a possible entrance to Hogwarts here.

He had contemplated checking up on Hermione and Luna but decided against it. Not only could it draw attention to the two girls if he was detected, but Dumbledore would probably remember seeing a green eyed kitten around when Tom had been attending this very school. Also, Harry trusted the two girls to be able to take care of themselves. And should something actually happen he counted on them to contact either him or someone else who would be able to help them. Harry was almost sure that Voldemort would help the girls, because Harry cared about them.

Hopefully the two girls would be able to stay out of troubles until the attack which there was a little more than a week to. The preparations had already started. And Harry knew that they were trying to make it so they were ready at the agreed time. Who would ever have thought that planning a war would actually take up so much time?

Chuckling to himself Harry climbed up the last stairs. He could almost hear Severus berate him right now for such thoughts. The potion master could be a rather strict man and he took the war rather serious. Harry understood him very well. He was not sure how he would feel when he was facing his former friends, knowing that he could have to take their lives.

Just as painless as it had been one way Harry came back to the Honeydukes without any problem´s. making sure that there was no one in the store room Harry lifted the boxes before opening the trap door and climbing up. He placed the boxes back on their original places and dusted himself off. He did not remember getting this dirty the last time he had used the passageway.

Shrugging it off Harry transformed to Beleza and used a short moment to gain back his balance. Despite the many times he had shifted back and forth between his animagus and human form it was just something he never seemed to get used to. Harry guessed that it was just something he had to live with. Besides, being an animagus made it worth feeling a little dizzy from a time to another.

Holding his tail high Harry climbed the stairs from the store room and up to the shop. He heard slightly raised voices as he reached the room and his interest was peeked. Looking around the doorway Harry found the two owners of the shop standing with their back to him. What did surprise him was that Draco, Pansy ad Blaise were standing in front of the counter, although none of them seemed to have bought anything. It seemed like he would have to get the sweets from Crabbe or Goyle then.

On top of Draco's shoulder Severus still sat. The potion master looked anything else than pleased about his current position, not that Harry did not understand him. How birds could be comfortable perching on someone's shoulder was to him a mystery. They had the ability to fly wherever and whenever they wanted. But Severus had made it clear that they would not go to Hogsmeade without him being with them and it was not like he could be allowed to fly around in the shop.

Shaking his head Harry stepped forth from behind the counter and meowed, effectively drawing the attention to him.

"Beleza, there you are." Harry growled when he found himself swept up in Blaise's arms. "Honestly, you cannot just wander off like that. Do it again and I am ought to put a collar and leash on you." Harry flattered his ears against his skull. Voldemort had come with that suggestion one time before and just like last time Harry made his opinion known by digging his claws into Blaise's robe clad arm.

The Slytherin hissed in slight pain and gently removed his claws from his arm. "Careful." The lack of reaction made Harry feel guilty for his action. Therefore he sat still in Blaise's embrace as the Slytherin left the shop.

Harry moved around in Blaise's arms, trying to get comfortable. The Italian boy held him secure, not giving him a chance to get down. Growling lowly to himself Harry stopped moving. Instead he lay down, relaxing. Through half lid eyes Harry watched as the people around him fell into their former positions. Placing him in the middle where he would be protected if something happened. Harry did not understand how he could not have realised it before. And what were they thinking treating him like some fair lady? He had beaten a bloody dark lord for Merlin's sake.

Shaking his head Harry accidently dug his claws into Blaise's arm when the boy carrying him suddenly came to a stop. Blinking slowly Harry turned his head from one side to another, trying to figure out what was going on. The plan had been clear. Once Harry returned to the group they would head directly back to the cottage. Not stopping and no other kind of delay.

Sitting up Harry's eyes narrowed when he saw the reason to why they had suddenly stopped.

Red hair and a gangly body was the first thing Harry noticed. Next to Ron were Dean and Seamus together with Neville. Had Harry been able to he would have been frowning. Why would the Gryffindor boys be in Hogsmeade? They had chosen today because Hogsmeade weekend would not be before the next weekend and therefore there should have been no other students in the small town.

Looking around Harry realised that they had reached the more secluded part of Hogsmeade, furthest away from Hogwarts and closer to the cottage. It was almost as if the Gryffindors had known they would came and therefore had decided to wait for them to ambush them. As soon as he had thought it Harry decided that it could not be the case. The only ones who knew about this outing were the people with him and Harry knew that they would never have said anything. It was probably just a coincidence but it did not make him feel any better.

"Well, the Weasel, the wanne be, a half blood and an Irish. What are you doing here and where is the Know It All?" Harry wondered if Blaise would say anything if he started banging his head against the other boy's chest. Why could Draco not just ignore the group and leave? Why did he have to banter them in a way that he knew would make them respond? On the other hand, the Gryffindors, not including Neville, looked like people who were looking for a fight. He recognised the looks they were giving them from his childhood when Dudley and his friends had found him. It had never ended well.

"What did you say, ferret boy?" Harry tilted his head to the side at Weasley's enraged yell. Ronald was too easy to make angry and did he not hear the slightly warmer tone Draco's voice held when he spoke of Hermione? Besides, Harry and Ron had often called Hermione a Know It All before and at that time it had just been a friendly banter.

"I would be careful with what I said, Weasel. Last time I heard it was your father who was being investigated because he has been messing around with muggle things. It is sad to see how far some people can fall." Harry watched as Ron's face took a well known shade of red. Living with the Dursleys, especially Vernon, and afterwards befriending Ron had taught Harry to read the meaning of what the different colours meant.

Glancing up at Blaise in hope of gaining the Italian's attention but Blaise's attention was focussed on what was going on in front of them, Harry sighed. There would be no hope of getting Blaise's attention unless he did something drastic. "Shut up, ferret boy."  
"How evaqulant, Weasel. I am surprised that after so many years you have not been able to come up with any new insults. On the other hand, I believe that the lack of brain is inheirtated, just like the freckles and red hair."  
"Ron, just drop it." Harry knew that he was not the only one who was surprised when Neville spoke up. Ron turned to face Neville, gaping, and Harry snorted. Only the redhead would move his focus from an enemy who was armed and had them outnumbered. "Mate, how could you. He insulted me and my family. Do not tell me that you are actually siding with those filthy snakes."

Neville paled and looked between the two groups. "They are just not worth it. Come on, it was you who wanted to go to Zonko's, let us get going before someone finds out that we are gone." Neville said and tried to drag Ron by his arm. The gangly red head did not move from where he was standing and yanked his arm free. "Neville, you are the Boy Who Lived, you should at least try to act like it."

The chubby Gryffindor hang his head, silently admitting defeat. He sent an apologising look at the Slytherins and luckily none of the lions seemed to notice it. If they had Harry had no doubt that they would have scorned Neville although he had been proclaimed the new Boy Who Lived and hero of the Wizarding world.

Probably feeling bad for Neville Pansy spoke of. "How about you move? Unlike someone else we actually have something to do."  
"What, are you going to curse a child? Going to kill and rape a muggle?" Dean spoke up from his place next to Ron. "Why, for someone who claims to belong to the light side you do seem to know awfully lot about how the initiation of new death eaters, perhaps there is something which you want to tell us all?" Harry watched with clear satisfaction as Seamus and Ron stepped away from Dean as if the feared he would infect him with something if they were too close to him. "Of course I do not. Can you people not see what those slimy snakes are doing? They are trying to make us turn against each other."

Harry snorted, wondering if they had been like this when he had been a student. Perhaps he had just been too busy with staying alive and unravel a mystery to pay attention to what was going on around him. He knew that it was not a real excuse but it made in feel better than to think that he had just ignored it and let them do as they wanted to.

His whole body tensed when three wands were suddenly pointed at their group. He knew that they outnumbered the Gryffindors. Especially if he and Severus decided to help. A sound from behind him informed him that Crabbe and Goyle had drawn their wands. As had Draco, Pansy and Theodore Nott. Since Blaise were holding Harry he was unable to and Harry suddenly understood why this formation had been necessary. It made both he and Blaise a harder target to hit in case that something like this should happen.

Severus let out a dark hoot. From where Harry was it was clear that the potion master was not happy with their situation. But like himself Severus was an unregistered animagus and he could easily get a sentence in Azkaban if someone got hold of this bit of information. Therefore they would stay as they were unless it really became necessary for them to transform.

Looking at their opponents Harry did not feel calm. Although they outnumbered the Gryffindors he had trained them all in D.A. which meant that they were over the usual level for wizards at their age. Harry cursed the day where Hermione had talked him into leading the club.

A red beam stuck Draco from behind, making Severus fly up when his godson stumbled to the ground, stunned by the spell which had hid him square in the back. The attack towards the blond from one of their own middle made them turn their attention away from their opponents. The Gryffindors were not late to use the distraction to their own advantage.

Recognising several of the curses and hexes sent in their direction Harry concentrated on forming a shield in front of them which would protect the Slytherins and himself from attack from that side. The magical drain on his small body made Harry realise that it perhaps not had been his best idea. On the other hand, it was not like he could just let any of the curses hit his friends when there was something which he could do about it.

Meanwhile Harry's brain was trying to work out what was happening. The attack had come from one of their owns, effectively taking out Draco, but at least it did not seem like the blond had been harmed. Pansy was out since she was in front of him and Harry would have seen it if she had tried to do anything. Unless Blaise had suddenly learnt wandless magic which Harry knew was unlikely, he could also count him out. Crabbe and Goyle were too loyal to ever even consider such a thing which left one person.

Harry found himself forced from Blaise's otherwise secure hold. He meowed in protest of the hard treatment and the pain the person who was holding him was inflicting on his small body.

Lifting his gaze Harry's green eyes locked with Nott's and although Harry was sure that no spell had been used on him he found himself unable to move much. Nott held him by his neck and Harry's body instinctively curled up around itself and his tail was under his stomach.

Not paying more attention to the chaos going on around them Nott turned around and started running. Although the way he was being held was both painful and humiliating it also gave Harry a chance to see what was going on behind him. He more felt than saw the Gryffindors continue their attack on the barrier he had conjured to separate the two groups from each other.

Both Draco and Blaise were down, one being stunned while the Italian boy had been knocked out by sheer force. Nott being as tall as Ron but much burlier than the red head had easily taken the boy out. Pansy was trying to enervate the two boys although from where he was Harry could not tell how it was going. Crabbe and Goyle looked split through running after him and staying to protect their friends. It was clear that they were waiting for someone to tell them what to do.

Anger grew inside Harry's chest. He had no idea about what Nott was on about but he was not about to let him get away with it. Did the idiot not realise that he was putting the whole plan into danger by his actions? Harry had no idea about what Nott's problem was but Harry was not about to let him get away with betraying them.

Trying to sample magic for an attack without letting the barrier fall Harry never noticed the blow heading at his head before it was already too late. Dazzled Harry's body went limp in Nott's hold and he blinked furiously to remove the dark spots from his sight. Not for the first time Harry cursed the fact that his animagus form was small and easy to damage. A blow like that would probably not have had so big an effect had he been human at the moment.

A black shape came down from above and it grew in size until black boots hit the ground. Harry ignored the sound tried to shake his head. It seemed like Severus had decided to blow his cover and come to his help. Looking at Nott through narrowed eyes Harry saw the boys' shocked expression. Nott had been the last one to arrive this morning and by then Severus had already been transformed. Nott had no idea that Severus had not been a normal owl.

Harry did not know if he should laugh by that fact or cry because of the pain. Right now he was not sure if he was capable of doing either.

"Nott, hand over Evan and the dark lord might consider sparing your life." Severus held out his hand to take Harry and Harry stared at the pale appendage with longing. He hissed in pain as he was carelessly jostled as Nott stepped back. "No, he is going to pay. And once he is gone the dark lord is going to reward me greatly."

Harry tried to transform back to human but the dizziness stopped him from doing so. Otherwise he would have been more than happy to inform Nott just how much of an idiot the boy was. There was no way that Voldemort would be happy with that. "Idiotic boy, if anything happens to Evan the dark lord will be handing punishments, not rewards, for what you have done."

Otherwise unmoving Harry's ears flattered against his skull at Nott's laughter. The sound was too high for his liking and it annoyed the hell out of him. Ignoring the pain which emerged from his head Harry twisted around and dug his claws into Nott's bare hands. Unlike with Blaise there was nothing to protect the skin and Harry did not even attempt to be gentle.

A new blow at his body made stars explode in front of his eyes and Harry felt his body go lax. He stared at the spot where he knew that Severus would be.

As darkness took over Harry felt an unpleasant tug on his body, indicating that he was being portkeyed away. Harry's last thought as he hit a hard ground was that he was thankful that Nott was no longer holding him. He just hoped that Severus and his other friends were okay. If Ron, Nott or anyone else had harmed them Harry would use a rusty spoon to take them apart piece by piece. He was sure that it would be a hard task, but he was Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived To Do The Impossible.

**)00(**

The atmosphere when Severus arrived to the dark lord's manor was heavy. Pushing the feeling of uneasy aside Severus strode forward towards the manor, carefully keeping any kind of emotion away from his face.

Right behind him the frozen body of one of his former Slytherin students was floating. The seventeen year old's body had acquired quite a few bruises and scratches since Severus had stunned the boy back in Hogsmeade. But Severus could not find it in himself to care. Besides he knew that much worse things would be waiting for the boy where they were heading.

He had taken the other teens to the cottage before sending them through the floo to Malfoy manor. Lucius had been informed shortly about what had happened. And Severus was quite sure that Draco would have nothing against filling in the man on whatever he might have forgotten to tell.

Because of Theodore Nott being stunned Severus was unable to take the boy with him through the floo. And although he doubted that he would have any problems with handling the boy Severus did not want to deal with the fuss the boy undoubtly would make. Therefore Severus had decided that the fastest method was to apparate to his destination which was the reason to why he was stalking towards the big manor in front of him with a furious expression.

The doors were already open when Severus reached them, signalling that Voldemort was awaiting them. Either Lucius had floo called the dark lord beforehand and told him what had happened, or Voldemort had just felt his presence inside the wards. From the lack of bodies and the sound of tortured screams Severus guessed that it was the latter.

Instinctively Severus' feet led him to the dark lord's private chambers. Although Evan had decided to live at the cottage, Voldemort had not moved his things back to his old office. Severus guessed that it was only good in this case. Once activated the wards around the rooms would stop any sounds from carrying out and people would not be able to disturb them.

Severus did not hesitate when the doors to the antechambers opened the same way as the front doors had done. He walked inside, accidently knocking Nott's form against the doorframe, knowing that it was going to bruise but he could not find it in himself to care for the boy.

Spotting the dark lord behind his desk Severus bowed. He knew that what he was about to tell would upset the dark lord to put it mildly.

"Severus, what brings you here? I believe that you were ordered to stay with Evan no matter what happened. Do tell me what happened for you to go against my orders." Despite the otherwise calm tone Severus heard the sharp edge in the man's voice. Although Lucius had made no floo call the dark lord had already caught on that something had happened. He was not called a genius for nothing after all.

Straightening his back Severus met the dark lord's gaze as calmly as he could. "My lord."

"Severus, what happened?" Voldemort spoke lowly, sending shivers down the potion master's spine. It was a long time ago that he had heard his master this angry and Voldemort did not yet know what had brought him to the manor.

"My lord, as planned we took off today to Hogsmeade to see if the passageway was useable for the planned attack. While Draco and his friends were making sure that no one would go to the storeroom Evan took off to investigate if the passageway would be safe for us to use. Since he returned again shortly after I assume that it was the case."

"Assume?" Voldemort stood and walked around the desk until he was standing in front of Severus and the unconscious Nott.

"Yes, we had decided to head back to the cottage since it would not be safe to discuss such details out in the open where everybody would be able to listen in on what we were talking about. Besides, both Evan and I were in our animagus forms. People would have noticed it if we transformed." Voldemort nodded in understanding. He knew that both wizards were unregistered animaguses and what kind of punishment they would get should the ministry find out about them.

"Unfortunately we met some Gryffindors on our way back, although it was not a Hogsmeade weekend. And while they managed to distract us someone from our middle attacked Draco and ran off with Evan." For the first time since Severus had started talking Voldemort really looked at the Nott boy. A dangerous fire was burning in the dark lord's red eyes and Severus found himself swallowing nervously although his throat was dry. "Go on."

"While running Nott managed to deal several blows to Evan's head and body which is my main theory to why he did not transform back into a human. Since he was in his animagus form I have no way of being sure of how much damage he took from the attacks."

Severus swallowed when he felt the tense magic in the room. Instead of trying to put it off Severus continued talking. "I reached them before Nott was able to get too far away. Unfortunately before I could free Evan, Nott activated a portkey which took Evan away. As soon as I had ensured that the others were oaky and sent them off to the Malfoy manor I took Nott with me to you."

Severus barely contained a flinch when several of the things made of glass or fine china exploded and left nothing else than small piles of dust. As soon as the small burst of wild magic was over, Voldemort seemed to calm down again. But if not for the small explosions not even Severus would have been able to guess what was going on inside the man's head. He watched as lord Voldemort stared down at Nott, his face void for all feelings and that kind.

Severus heard the doors close behind him but did not take his eyes off of his master. Voldemort was still looking at Nott before he stepped aside. "Place him on the floor." None too gently Severus did as he was ordered. As soon as Nott was on the floor Severus stepped back and let the dark lord have the space he needed. Severus had no intentions about leaving. He did not feel for what the Nott heir undoubtly would be put through but he wanted to see what the dark lord was going to do. Also, he wanted to know what had happened to Evan and where the brat had been sent.

It was not worry he felt but Evan had an uncanny ability to get himself into troubles. And with them not being there to keep an eye on him there was no way of telling what the boy might get himself into.

Severus forced his thoughts back to his current situation. While he had been deep in thoughts the dark lord had enervated Nott, who was now waking up. At first the boy looked confused about where he was but when his eyes landed on lord Voldemort's the boy's face lightened up in true happiness and the boy kneeled. "My lord."

Severus did not bother with containing his sneer. The boy truly looked pleased with himself and his eyes were looking adoringly at their lord. Lord Voldemort's face was still void of any emotion, not that Severus could claim that he was surprised. Voldemort was a Slytherin through and through.

"Nott, it has come to my attention that you attacked a fellow Slytherin while you were on a mission, explain." Severus was surprised that Nott did not seem to notice the tone in the man's voice. On the other hand the boy looked too busy with telling to notice anything else around him. He seemed happy with having the dark lord's full attention. "My lord, I did it for you. He was changing you. Without him there you will be able to concentrate on your original goal about getting rid of all muggles and such filth. Not that he was much better himself being a filthy halfblood."

Severus stared in disbelief, unable to believe what he was seeing. Shaking his head he quickly masked his expression. Nott was too pleased with himself to read the signals of danger which seemed to be screaming to everyone in the room. How could the boy be so stupid? Did he not know how important new blood actually was? It was people with mixed blood like their lord and Evan which were the most powerful ones.

"And what did you do to Evan?"

"Got rid of him." Not even Severus was able to hold back a flinch when a chair exploded due to the dark lord's magic. This time even Nott seemed to notice that something was going on and the boy's expression became confused. "It was for your own good, my lord. He was making you weak."

"My own good, Mr. Nott?" Voldemort questioned never taking his eyes off the boy who was staring up at him from his spot at the floor. The man's voice was soft, keeping the anger at bay. At least until he had gotten the answers he wanted from the boy. "Yes, Potter is worth nothing and he spread his legs for anyone who is willing. Not only that but he destroyed my family. I know that he was the one who cursed my grandfather."

"And what did you do to Evan?"

Voldemort was looming over the teen who shivered slightly but had a hungry look in his eyes. Severus' own eyes widened. How could the boy still believe that he was in the dark lord's favour? He really had to be dim to let himself live in that fantasy. "The portkey took him to the ministry. Since he is an unregistered animagus they will take care of him and he will finally get the punishment which he deserves."

Voldemort straightened his back and hissed in anger, although none of the others actually understood what he was saying. "Crucio." A scream erupted from the teen's lips while the boy twisted on the floor. Both Voldemort and Severus watched with slight interest. Voldemort continued the curse for three minutes before he finally ended it. After all it would not do for the boy to go crazy this soon in the game.

"What was the curse of yours which the blood traitor dared to use at Evan? I want to see if it works just as well on traitors." Recognising an invitation to join in the game Severus raised his wand. Unlike his lord he was not as adapt in wandless magic and preferred using his wand unless he had no other opportunities. "Sectumsempra." He made a slashing movement with his wand and watched with satisfaction as deep wounds appeared on the Nott heir's body but mainly the boy's arms and legs. A few ended on the torso but Severus knew better than to make them too deep. The dark lord wanted the torture to last for as long as possible and who was Severus to deny him that?

Nott threw his head back and screamed, making both wizards wince at the too high tone. "Confringo." Severus stepped back as soon as the dark lord uttered the curse and put a shield before himself to avoid getting hit by the blood and bits of bones and meat. The blasting curse had effectively destroyed the boy's leg and Severus doubted very much that even St. Mungo's best healers would be able to do anything to heal it.

Since the dark lord himself had invited him Severus saw absolutely no reason to why he should stop himself. "Flagrante." Boils formed on the boys face and popped. The fluid left burn marks on his face, and Severus knew that it was just as painful as it looked like.

"Severus, you will call the others together. Tell them that it is an emergency situation and I expect them to show up here in an hour. We have some plans which need to be changed." Severus bowed. "Of course my lord." He was sad that he would not get to be a part of the torture any longer. But arranging Evan's rescue was more important than getting revenge for what the boy had done. And the sooner the meeting was held the sooner there was a chance for them to be ready.

"Infructuosus." Severus watched with interest as the curse hit Nott although nothing seemed to happen. Although, if he had translated the spell right there was not supposed to be any visible reaction. Voldemort stepped close to the teen again, so Nott could see his face while making sure that he did not step in any of the mess on the floor. "It seems like someone has given you the wrong information, boy. You see, it was not Evan who cursed your grandfather with infertility, it was me. You see your grandfather made the same mistake as you, he dared to touch something which is mine. And like him you are going to pay for it."

Severus turned around and headed towards the door. The fear in Nott's eyes made him feel nauseous. The boy should have thought it through before he had done as he had done. But he guessed that madness ran in the family.

"Aveda Kedavra." Severus let the door close behind him. Now it was time to concentrate on rescuing Evan. Hopefully they would not be too late.

**A question, when are people in UK allowed to get their driving license? It will not be used for this story, but perhaps for another one which I have in my head. Hopefully that one will also one day reach the internet. **

**And I am looking for some fics to read. This time it is where Harry gets deaged and ends in the care of one or more Slytherins. It does not matter if they are still at school or if the Slytherins are adults. **


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: Guess what? The characters still do not belong to me. J. K. Rowling has refused to sell the rights to me. I am using them though.**

**Warnings: I will save them for the next chapter.**

**Beta: ****angelhitomie**

When he first opened his eyes Harry was sure he had gone blind since he could see nothing. Darkness surrounded him and had consumed everything else that might be there with him. The only thing which convinced him that he was alive and that it was probably not a dream was the cold stone floor he was lying on.

Green eyes flickered back and forth, trying to discern something from the seemingly never ending darkness to prove that he was not blind. Panic welled up in his chest as Harry thought about never seeing the daylight again. To be forever blind. He closed his eyes in hope for a change in the darkness, although it was not the case. But with his eyes closed he would at least be able to convince himself that he would be able to see if he just opened them.

Harry curled around himself, trying to keep himself as warm as possible. Wherever he was it was bloody cold and made him wonder if whoever had put him there was planning for him to die from the cold.

Recalling what had happened before he had fallen unconsciousness Harry's breath quickened. He hoped that the Slytherins had gotten away without getting harmed or caught. Or else he would deal with the three Gryffindors personally. Neville had done his best to avoid a fight and Harry knew that it was Dumbledore's fault that the other teen had been involved. After all it was Hogwarts' headmaster who had proclaimed Neville the Boy Who Lived. It was not something Harry wished for anyone to suffer from.

Moving around to get in a more comfortable position Harry's eyes snapped open. Slowly Harry raised his hands to the front of his face although he could not see them. It seemed like while he had been unconscious he had transformed back to his human form. While Harry was glad that he no longer was in the vulnerable form of Beleza he had a feeling that he was not much better of like this.

As Beleza he had looked like a normal kitten, not something worth paying attention to unless you were a crazy girl who needed a victim to dress up. And as Beleza no one other than those he had told or shown had known who he really was.

A hand sought up to Harry's forehead and flattered his hair in an attempt to hide his scar. If those who held him captured found out about whom he really was Harry doubted that it would end well. Thankfully he had cast a notice me not charm on the scar before he had left the cottage. But Harry had no idea about how long ago it had been or how long the charm would last.

Cringing Harry let his hand fall when he found what felt like dried blood in his hair. It seemed like Nott had hit him harder than Harry had first thought was the case.

Feeling something around his left wrist Harry slowly lowered his arm, frowning. He recognised the feeling of the cold metal and dread filled him as his fingers moved over the thing's surface. The carvings were different from the ones which had been on the bracelets Dumbledore had placed on him to contain his magic. Harry had no idea about what this might do but he had a feeling that it meant nothing good. At least not to him.

Breathing deeply Harry reached out for his magic and was pleased when he found that it was still within reach. It seemed like it had restored fully while he had been knocked out and was ready for use. But he could not use it, he had no idea about where he was and what was on the other side of the door. How many traps and people would there be between him and the freedom he craved for?

Sitting up Harry regretted the action when dizziness grew worse and he lay down, feeling like his stomach was trying to fight its way up through his throat. Closing his eyes again Harry breathed evenly through his nose, waiting for the nausea to lessen.

Still laying down Harry used his hands and feet to feel around him. Someone had taken his shoes and outer robes, leaving him only in shirt, pants and socks, which did nothing to help him with keeping warm. The room he was in was made of hard stones and was not much bigger than his old cupboard although he was able to stretch out fully while lying down. But considering his size Harry guessed that it did not tell much. A normal person would probably feel a little cramped in the room through.

Staring into the darkness behind his closed eyelids Harry wondered for how long he had been unconscious. Had the others managed to get away? Considering who he had been together with Harry would say that there was a pretty good chance for that. Instead his thoughts wandered further. Had they told Voldemort what had happened and did they know where he was? He could easily imagine how Voldemort would react. Not even as a boy had Voldemort taken it lightly when someone had tried to take or damage something he considered his. And although Harry did not like the thought of being seen as a possession he knew that Voldemort truly cared for him. Hopefully the dark lord would not react like a Gryffindor in his need for revenge and put the whole plan into danger.

Smiling slightly Harry sighed. It was funny to think about how much they had affected each other. Although they had belonged to different houses at Hogwarts it seemed like they brought the opposite house forth in the other male. Harry was not sure why, but he guessed that it was a good thing. They balanced each other out. Black and white and together they created grey. Neither good nor evil.

Brushing the tears away Harry winced when he felt pain shot through his body. It seemed like Nott had done more damage to him than Harry first had thought. From his life with the Dursleys Harry knew that his ribs were not broken but it did not mean that it was not painful.

He hoped that Severus or someone else had managed to catch Nott. They would be able to get his location out of him and Harry could not find it in himself to care for the methods they would use on the other boy. Nott deserved whatever they could come up with for what he had done. The idiot had put the whole mission into danger.

The arrival of the Gryffindors had been a little too good to be a coincidence. Harry would bet his entire wealth that Nott had somehow managed to get them to Hogsmeade. How it had been done Harry had no idea about but neither was it important. Nott had clearly planned this since he had gotten the four Gryffindors to Hogsmeade and had had a portkey ready for use.

Shifting slightly in hope of getting into a somewhat comfortable position Harry sighed. Right now there was not much for him to do. He would wait for something to happen and use the time to let his magic work on healing his wounds or at least dull the pain a little.

**)00(**

Draco had managed to sneak away from his parents. Normally that would not have been possible, especially not after all the things they had been through this day, but they were distracted by the arrival of his friends' parents, thus giving him a chance to leave the room without anyone seeming to pay any attention to him.

Now Draco was heading towards the owlery, a letter in his hands. Although he did not know what Hermione would be able to do he knew that the girl would want to know what had happened. Who knew, with her brain she might even be able to come up with some kind of a solution for this.

Sighing in a very un-Malfoy way Draco wondered what had gone wrong. Sure he knew that the Nott family was nowhere as important as his own and the dark lord seemed to be less than happy with the family although Draco did not know why. He had gotten to know Theodore after they had started at Hogwarts. Before that they had only met a few and brief times, not enough for children like them to form a friendship. His parents had said nothing against it when he had told them about his acquaintance with the Nott heir but neither had they encouraged it.

"You seem to be burdened with heavy thoughts." Draco stopped dead in his tracks when he found himself in front of his great grandfather's portrait. It seemed like his feet had carried him here since it was where he usually went when he had been in need of an advice or a story when he had been a child. "Great grandfather." Draco said, bowing his head in respect.

"Drop the act boy. I have not spent so much time on you just for you to act like a Malfoy around me." Draco managed to smile despite the worry he felt. "But great grandfather, we are both Malfoys, so it is only natural to act like one."

"If you are not careful, Draco, we a going to see how many times I can jinx you before you reach the end of the hallway."

Following his great grandfather's line of sight Draco paled. The end of the hallway seemed impossible far away. Draco had seen Mortimus in action before. Even if the portrait only used jinxes he knew an uncounted number and plenty of them had a nasty result. "Sorry Mortimus."

"That is better. Now tell me what is going on. Those gossiping old and dusty portraits are useless to find out about anything." His great grandfather huffed.

Sighing Draco leaned against the wall opposite to the portrait of his relative sane relative. "Evan has been kidnapped. We were in Hogsmeade to check out a way into Hogwarts which would be used for the attack. Everything went fine until we on our way back ran into some Gryffindors, namely a Weasley."

Draco grimaced at the name while Mortimus' face darkened. "Go on."

"After arguing for a little while the Gryffindors drew their wands at us and attacked. I am not sure how but in his animagus form Evan just put up a barrier between us so we would not be harmed. I thought that such a thing would be impossible, but then again it is Harry Potter we are talking about. Anyway, Theodore Nott hit me from behind with a stupefy. Nothing harmful happened, but it was enough to create a distraction." Draco took a deep breath to calm himself. Anger would get him nowhere other than a stinging hex from Mortimus.

"Theodore knocked Blaise out, took Evan and ran off. I heard from Severus, that since Evan was concentrating on the shield protecting us he could not protect himself from the attacks from Theodore or shift back to human. Before Severus could rescue Evan Theodore activated a portkey and sent him somewhere. Right now Severus has taken Theodore to the dark lord to get some answers out of him."

"Draco, do you know why the Nott family has fallen from their former glory and why your Theodore Nott did as he did?"

Surprised by the question Draco shock his head. "No, neither father nor mother has told me anything but from the way you are speaking I guess that the two things are connected in some way."

"It is doubtful that your parents would have any knowledge about it. We were only a small handful who knew the truth." Intrigued Draco leaned forward. "What happened?" He wanted to understand what could have driven Theodore to such actions. It made no sense that he would betray Harry and thereby the dark lord with what he had done.

"It happened before I got to know Evan although I had already heard rumours of his abilities as a ward maker at that time. But later he told me what had happened so I have the story from a firsthand witness. You see back then the Nott family used to hold a masquerade ball and although it was nowhere as impressive as what we Malfoys can come up with I guess that plenty of people saw it as a honour to be invited to such a party."

Draco could easily hear the smug tone in his great grandfather's voice as Mortimus carried on talking. "The lord of the Nott family managed to corner Evan in a room far away from the party and the other guests. From what I understood from Evan lord Nott suffered under the belief that Evan wanted him and acted thereof."

The Malfoy heir paled. While he knew that many things were done as a part of being a death eater, rape or attempting to do something like that was not accepted by his family.

"Luckily Evan managed to get away before Nott could complete the act but the fact that the head of the Nott family would even try such a thing." Both males shuddered at the scandalous thought. "What happened then? Something else has to have happened for Theodore to go after Evan in such a way." The boy, like himself, was a Slytherin. They mostly had a reason behind everything they did. "Lord Nott was famous for taking lovers while his pregnant wife, I do not remember her name but she was from the Lovegood family, travelled around the world. But shortly after the incident it was rumoured that Nott had become incapable of getting it up anymore and at the same time I made it clear to everyone that lord Nott was no longer welcome among us purebloods. Unfortunately I did not expend it to the whole family or they would have been in the same situation as those Weasleys are now."

Draco stared at his great grandfather with wide eyes. Though having known Harry for as long as he had he had never thought that the green eyed wizard would ever be able to do such a thing. Harry was too gentle and forgiving to take revenge on his own. "Later little Tom informed me that he in fact was the one behind the curse." Realising who Mortimus was talking about Draco's eyes widened until it felt like they were going to pop out of his head. "It makes sense, while Evan is perfectly capable of taking care of himself it is our lord who would think of getting revenge in such a way. And since no one else knows about it, it also makes sense why Theodore would go after Evan. His grandfather probably felt the need to blame someone and who would be better to do so than the one who early became his victim but had managed to get away?"

Mortimus nodded. "You have a good head on your shoulder, Draco, at least when you remember to use it. Now run and long and sent that letter to Ms. Granger. And do not worry your parents are not going to find out about your girlfriend from me." Draco blushed but he knew better than to ask where his great grandfather had gotten the knowledge from. He had from an early age learnt that Mortimus was as good as omniscient.

A small stinging hex brought Draco out of his thoughts. "Now run along brat or we will see how many times I can hit you before you reach the end of the hallway." Nodding Draco started moving, not really running but neither could it be called walking. He felt no need to test his great grandfather's patience today.

**)00(**

The noise in the Great Hall reached a whole new level when both students and professors' attention were drawn upwards. Albus followed the others' line of sight, until he found what had distracted the otherwise peaceful evening. Usually owls could only deliver packs and letters in the Great Hall in the morning to avoid that the meals would be disturbed by the owls, eager to deliver their burden.

But a ministry owl could come at all times of the day and in the past Albus had several time been awoken in the middle of the night because someone, usually the minister, wanted an advice from him.

Therefore Albus went back to eat his dinner although he did make sure to keep an eye at the owl. Once he found out who the ministry wanted to come in contact with he would have plenty of chances to find out the reason behind it.

Glancing over at the Gryffindor table, not surprisingly it was the table with the most students left, a nearly invisible frown marred the old man's face. Four students had been caught yesterday in Hogsmeade. The youngest Weasley boy, Finnigan, Thomas and Longbottom. Out of the four of them it was the Longbottom boy who had gotten away with the least injuries. The boys needed to be brought up to his office so he could find out what had happened. At least so he would not have to listen to their family members rant about how he had let their small angels gotten hurt.

Unfortunately he had not been there when the boys had been brought back by annoyed people from Hogsmeade, who had complained about the ruckus the boys had made. Minerva had been busy dealing with the angry villagers and had therefore not had time to integrate the four boys about what had happened. Albus knew it would have to happen soon and he would be getting letters from the parents, or in Longbottom's case the boy's grandmother.

Albus blinked slowly when the owl landed on the table in front of him. The creature knocked a gobble, sending the pumping juice over the table. He let Minerva banish the mess before anything could be damaged and concentrated on the bird. The owl was one of the ministry's own, brown and ordinary.

A white envelope was bound to the owl's leg which was stuck forth for him to take the letter. Well aware of the curios looks he was getting from the students and staff alike Albus freed the owl from its burden and watched as the bird took off, it seemed like no response was expected right away.

Ignoring the curious glances he was receiving, while making sure that no one was able to read along without making it look like he was actually doing so, Albus opened the elopement and started to read.

_Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore Order of Merlin - First Class, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Supreme Mugwump and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. An unregistered animagus has been captured yesterday in the middle of the ministry. As the Chief Warlock you will have to meet at the ministry, January the sixteenth to oversee the court procedure._

_Sincerely Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. _

Albus slowly lowered the letter. It was not unusually for him to be called to trials. But usually he was able to get more information than this. It was hard to be prepared when he had no idea about who the unregistered animagus was. He had no chance of knowing if the person would be able to be of any use for him and his case.

Grumbling under his breath Albus hid the letter in one of his pockets hidden in his colourful robes. It was in times like this he regretted having lost Severus Snape as his spy. If the potion master was not able to get hold of information Snape knew others who would have been able to. And the best of it all was that the dark haired man had been indebted to him and therefore had had no choice but to follow whatever order he gave him.

But alas Albus had to make do without the potion master. It should not be too hard. After all he himself had a few contacts in the ministry, most of them from the Order, and he had had to make do without Snape before this. Back then he had still been celebrated for being the one who defeated Gellert but Albus did not doubt that he would be just fine on his own.

Albus let his fingers touch the letter in his pocket. He had a feeling that something big linked to this case was going to happen. But right now he had no idea about what it could be.

**)00(**

Sanguini was fuming. Nero had tried to stop him on his way out of the door and it was only because the vampire had already applied sun lotion that he did not burn into ash the moment he stepped out of the door.

The old vampire lord cursed and kicked a small rock, sending it flying and effective scaring prey away. But Sanguini had no interest in hunting. He had feed not too long ago and right now he had others and far more important matters which pressed.

Growling he moved forward, too fast for anyone to follow his movements. He speed through the landscape, making a few women shriek as he passed them as a fast wind. Normally he would have used more time on taunting the muggles but he moved on instead. Much sooner than he usually would have done Sanguini reached the house where they had held the meeting only a little over a week ago. Sanguini smirked as he recalled that day. Bantering the werewolf had been fun although he could have done it without Nero's punishment afterwards.

Not bothering with knocking on the door Sanguini busted through it. He stopped abruptly when he found a wand pointed directly at his face. The wielder of the wand was a dour looking man with pale skin and black greasy looking hair. He recognised the man from his meetings with lord Voldemort and it was also this man who had contacted him and informed about the emergency meeting. He had mentioned that it had something to do about Evan James, and after that Sanguini had not stayed to hear more, too worried about what could have happened to his little wizard since he last saw him. But no matter what he could not remember the name of the man.

"Potion man." The man scowled at the nick name but removed his wand and turned around. "Follow me, lord Sanguini." The potion master started walking and Sanguini followed after him closely. As they walked Sanguini took in the man's tense way of moving. He looked ragged and from the short look he had gotten of the man's face Sanguini would say that he looked worried. It made him wonder what had happened.

They arrived to the small library where the last meeting had been held. Sanguini's interest peeked when he noticed that all but one had met. The chair between lord Voldemort and Greyback was empty, and Sanguini's eyes swept around the room, but the little wizard was nowhere to be seen. Breathing in deeply Sanguini realised that he could not smell the little wizard, instead he caught the smell of fresh blood, although it was rather weak. Hopefully he would soon get some answers to the many questions which had started to pop up in his head.

Nodding to the others he slit into his chair, noticing that Nero had somehow managed to arrive before him. "I left before you, how come you are already here then?" Sanguini whispered, too low and too fast for anyone else to hear it but the one he intended to. "Unlike you I do not lose my cool whenever I hear that something has happened. And as much as I loathe admitting it, using the floo is much faster than our speed when travelling over longer distances."

Scowling Sanguini decided to ignore the other vampire and instead turned his attention to lord Voldemort, who had yet to say anything. It was the wizard who had called this meeting. The air seemed thick with retained magic and since the little wizard was not with them it was not hard to figure out where the magic was coming from. After the meeting he would have to find out why the little wizard was not with them today.

"I am glad that you were all willing to show up with such a short warning. As you all can see Evan James is not with us here today and he is the reason to why I have called you here." Mutters broke out around the table and Sanguini growled under his breath, wanting them to be quiet so he could hear what was going on. When people finally quietened down lord Voldemort continued.

"Earlier today a small group was in Hogsmeade to inspect a passageway which should go directly into Hogwarts. On their way back they were ambushed and betrayed. They came out of the fight as the victorious but unfortunately Evan was captured and is currently in one of the ministry cells, waiting for a trial. As of yet they do not know who he is but since he is an unregistered animagus the ministry will be using Veritaserum in the trial and once they know of his true identity they will keep digging and eventually learn about our plans."

Lord Voldemort was interrupted by the two elves. "You have people inside the ministry. Use them to off the boy and make it look like an accident. He is a security risk and we are not willing to risk all what we have worked for because of one person."

Chaos erupted in the room as both werewolves and Sanguini tried to attack the two elves who seemed unfazed about what was happening. Before they were able to reach the elves an invisible force slammed them back in their chairs. Had Sanguini still been alive the air would have been knocked out of his lungs. As it was he turned to face the elves although he made no move to repeat the attack. He felt no need to experience the feeling once again if he could avoid it.

The two elves sat unmoving while they seemed to be waiting for a verbal response to their suggestion. Huffing Sanguini scowled at the pair. He knew there was a reason to why he did not like elves. They were boring and stock up. Also, one had to be careful to ask for their help. They tended to kill the person just as often as they would heal the injuries.

Since the werewolves were still too angered to form a coherent sentence Sanguini decided that he might as well be the one to answer them. "Now listen here, pointed ears. Evan James is the reason to some of us is supporting this case. He has done a great job with finding allies and otherwise helping with the war." Sanguini grinned as he recalled the rumours of just who Hogwart's oh so great headmaster had been pranked by, although he guessed that it did not really count as aiding their side in the war. But he still needed the little wizard alive so he could show him how those pranks were done. The council meetings were never going to be boring again.

As if sensing where his thoughts were heading Nero jabbed him in the side and Sanguini continued talking. "Furthermore little wizard is a powerful wizard and will be a good access to the war. He is needed and as you pointed out yourself it could be dangerous if they got to use the Veritaserum on him so we will have to rescue him before the trial."  
"No." All heads snapped over to look at lord Voldemort who patiently waited until he had everyone's attention. "We will wait until the date of his trial." Ignoring the mumbles of protest and confusion the dark lord continued on. "Since Evan is an unregistered animagus and it is doubtful that someone will learn of his other identity, at least before the trial, he will be isolated somewhere, either in the ministry or in Azkaban until the date of his trial. It is the only time where we will know where he is for sure. Also, this can be turned to our benefit. They will need a council for the trial which means that several witches and wizards from the so called light side will be there. I have already sent lord Malfoy off to the ministry. With his connections and a little money he will be able to affect who will be a part of the jury. And the day of Evan's trial will be the day where we take over the ministry and Hogwarts."

Cut nods were the only answers the wizard got from his little speech. Sanguini understood why lord Voldemort had been able to get so many people to join his side. He could talk one into killing a beloved grandmother if that was what he wanted. Of course Sanguini's own grandmother had died centuries ago.

Realising that the meeting had come to an end while he had been in deep thoughts Sanguini rose from his chair, following Nero out of the room and away from the others.

When they were out of earshot Nero spoke up. "With the prophecy one of them is going to die." Sanguini nodded, for once grave. "I know, one cannot live while the other survives. hence the reason to why Harry Potter and lord Voldemort will never be able to get a happy ending, but I believe that I have found a solution to that little problem."  
"Why are you so interested in the lives of some mere mortals?"

Sanguini shrugged as they entered a room with a lit fireplace. From the smell of it he knew that his brother had flooed into this room from their home. "They sure make our unlife interesting and I believe that those two, should they be allowed to, will be able to go much farther than anyone would ever be able to imagine. And I will be there to see just how far they can go." With that he threw some floo powder into the fireplace and stepped into the now green flames before he was whisked away.

**)00(**

When the door to the small cell he was in slammed open Harry shielded his eyes with his arm, merciless light filled the barren room, making his eyes hurts despite the fact that they were closed.

Opening his watering eyes Harry tried to focus on the bulb like figure standing in the door way. Although he had no clock, and Harry had not dared to use magic in fear of it being detected, he knew that more than just a few days had passed. He had used the arrival of the food to keep track of the time. If Harry had counted correctly he had received food three times a day. Although it had been plain and disgusting, it had certainly been better than what he had gotten at the Dursleys, when they had remembered to feed him. It also meant that he had spent five days in darkness and without any human contact.

Harry wondered what Voldemort was doing. Probably preparing for the upcoming attack. Knowing his lover as he did Harry guessed that Voldemort was not taking properly care of himself with how busy he was. The dark lord was worse than him when Harry found something which he thought of as interesting. Hopefully Nagini would be able to keep him from going too far. Harry could imagine Voldemort faint because he was sleep deprived and snorted. Now that was an amusing picture.

Realising that he had been spacing out Harry turned his attention back to the newly arrived person. Having gotten more used to the light Harry's eyes no longer hurt as badly as they had but it did not mean that he was comfortable.

Facing the light Harry was unable to see the person's features. One thing was sure, the person was a man. Or perhaps it was a woman with a very masculine body. "Get up." Harry would bet his money on a man. Sighing Harry slowly got on his feet, making sure that his fringe was hiding his scar from view. "So who is the one who is in control of everything here, I would like to complain? There was no chocolate under the pillow. Not that I have a pillow, or a bed for the matter, but the chocolate is missing."

Although Harry could not be sure he had a distinct feeling that the man was staring at him as if he was an idiot. He would do nothing to correct that presumption. It would help his plan along if the man underestimated him.

"Prisoner X-191229152118, follow me."  
"By the way you are speaking to me as if I am an object and not an actually human I will take a short and guess that you are an auror. So mind telling me where I am?" At least it was not Azkaban. He would have felt the dementors' presence long ago if that had been the case. "Know that everything you say can and will be used against you in the court. Now hurry up, your trial is about to start and I have orders to escort you to the court room."

Rolling his eyes Harry moved towards the auror, wincing since his body was stiff after having been in the same position for so long. "So, I am in the ministry. What am I accused of?" He kept an eye on the man's wand as he stepped closer. He had no plans about fighting the man at the moment. He doubted that he would be able to find the exit from where he currently was. But if the man tried anything Harry reserved the right to defend himself. But right now he would just play the confused wizard. "You will find out about it at the trial. Now come along, it will not be looked mildly on if you are late."

This reminded Harry of the trial in his fifth year. Only this time he did not have Arthur Weasley with him as a support and Harry was sure that there would not be anyone there to support him.

Before he could reach the man the wizard flickered his wand and Harry felt chains wrap themselves tightly around his person. Rolling his eyes again Harry tested the strength of the chains, knowing that it was probably expected of him and that the guard would be watching his every move. The chains were too strong for him to break them with physical strength alone. But Harry had no doubt that he would be able to get them off if he wanted that.

A hand between his should showed Harry out of the cell and Harry grumbled to himself unhappily. Harry stumbled a little as they started walking. Although his body was still sore the injuries had been healer already. Harry doubted that anyone would notice his lack of injuries. But since he doubted that a feeling would be there to check up on his non existing injuries Harry hoped that no one would see through it. It would be a little hard to explain how he had healed himself, especially when he had been locked in a cell. And even through aurors could mostly not be called smart people he doubted that they would believe him if he said that it was just accidental magic. And Harry had no intentions about giving up his plans about escaping just because they found out about him being able to do wandless magic.

Harry had not walked more than a few step before he felt a wand dig in between his two shoulder blades. "No need for you to jab me with that thing." He glanced over his shoulder at the auror before continuing. "It is not as if a normal witch or wizard can do anything against a wizard with a wand." Harry did not need to look at the man to know that he was probably agreeing with him and instead he focussed on placing one foot in front of the other as he walked. He felt the man relax behind him and scowled. If this was how aurors were Harry was glad he had chosen to become a ward maker instead. He doubted that he would be able to deal with this kind of idiocy and incompetence without losing whatever little there was left of his sanity.

The corridors they were walking through were unfamiliar to Harry. Of course the two times he had been in the ministry it was not like he had had the time to actually pay much attention to his surroundings. Now where they were walking in a rather slow tempo, mostly because Harry was a little unstable on his feet after sitting too long in the cell, also he could not let them know that other than a few bruises he was okay. Therefore Harry limped and made sure not to breathe too deeply while he took the opportunity to look around.

They walked through identical looking corridors which left him with no sense of direction. Harry was also pretty sure that he had never been this deep in the ministry before.

They reached the elevator, all the while Harry had a wand pointed at him. He wondered who would be the fastest. The auror or him.

He felt the elevator move upwards, it explained why the cell had been so cold. They were probably underground and he doubted very much that anyone would bother using heating charms on the cells since it was only supposed criminals who would be there anyway.

The elevator came to a stop with a tug. Harry stumbled and steadied himself against the wall with his shoulder to stop himself from falling. "Stand up. When the doors open we will walk out. Do not try anything; you will not like the consequences." Nodding Harry straightened his back as the doors opened. Although he did not want to be seen as a treat he was by no means weak.

Stepping out of the elevator Harry's eyes widened when he saw how many people were in the hall they had stepped into. Most of them paid him no attention. Others sent him a passing glance, curious, disgusted or passive, before they were gone again. Looking down himself Harry realised the reason behind the looks he was receiving. Because of the guard who held him at wand point Harry might as well have a neon sign telling them that he was a criminal. Also, he had not had a chance to clean himself after he had been captured. He had dried blood on his clothes, mixed with dirt, dust and other things he preferred not to think about. He was thankful that he had no mirror to look at since he was sure that he would be a mess to look at. Also, missing his shoes and robes made Harry stand out more than he already did.

The auror guided him along with jabs from the wand. Had he still been wounded it would have been painful. As it was Harry found it overly annoying. He wondered what the auror would do if he suddenly turned around and took the wand from him.

A grin spread on his face at the thought and he ignored the suspicious glances he got because of the action. He could probably create a lot of chaos and although Harry knew that it was a grave situation he continued the thought. After all he had managed to pull pranks at Hogwarts and if Mortimus heard he had been in the ministry without pulling a prank he would never hear the end of it from the former Malfoy lord.

They stopped in front of an impressive looking black double door, which seemed to melt into the ceiling. Harry's attention was forced back to what was going around him when the doors opened and he was pushed inside, at the same time the chains which had been wrapped around him disappeared as if they had never been there.

Stepping through the doors Harry felt like he had accidentally stepped back in time and had ended in the summer between his fourth and fifth year. Only this time he was facing far more grave consequences than having his wand snapped and being expelled from Hogwarts. One of the two things had already happened. The air was dry and smelled heavily of parchment. Harry could not stop himself from wrinkling his nose at the smell.

Green eyes moved over to the assembled people in the room and narrowed down when he recognised several of the faces. Minister Fudge sat in the middle of the row of chairs, the minister's higher than the others, but he still looked like a portly little man. His grey hair was rumbled and the minister was wearing a pinstriped suit, scarlet tie, long black travelling cloak and a lime green bowler hat. Harry debated with himself if he should get down on his knees to check if the man was wearing pointed purple boots again. To the man's left was Amelia Bones, whom Harry recognised from his last trial. She was a square jawed witch with close-cropped grey hair and a monocle. Despite her serious appearance she had been rather understanding about his case. He wondered if that would also be the case today. If he remembered she was the aunt to Susan Bones, a Hufflepuff from Hogwarts. Like his father and Bill and Ron Percy was tall and thin with vivid red hair and freckles. Seated next to madam Bones the Weasley seemed that he was the most important person in the room.

Looking at the other end of the table Harry spotted a man who could only be the new lord Nott. Or perhaps could not exactly be called knew, but since Harry had known the man's father to him he was new. Harry wondered if the man knew anything about what his son had done and if he supported his heir's actions.

Next to Nott Harry found Lucius Malfoy. The blond's face was unreadable but Harry still found it calming just to know there was a friendly face. Perhaps he could not call the look on Lucius' face friendly, but at least he trusted the man. The only two people who would have been better to have with him in the room would have been Severus or Voldemort. But since it could not be done Harry was thankful that Lucius at least had shown up.

His gaze hardened when Harry saw who was next to Lucius, suddenly he understood why Lucius had that look in his face. Albus Dumbledore was seated between Lucius and Cornelius Fudge, starring straight at him with disbelief shining in his eyes. Mockingly Harry grinned and bowed his head slightly to greet the man. He did not like the old headmaster, and he smirked when the old man scowled at him through his beard.

A yank on his arm forced Harry to start walking. Now it was his turn to scowl, this time at the auror, before he turned his attention to where he was being led. A simple looking metal chair stood in front of the row of chairs, which, from where he stood, looked much more comfortable than the one he was being forced towards. Harry glared at the chair as if it was its fault that he had ended in this situation. Since this was the magical world it might very well be.

Being pushed down onto the chair Harry's arms were placed at the armrests. When he tried to move them he found himself unable to lift his arms. Bending down Harry examined it closely. They had probably used a form for sticking charm, simple but effective. Unable to move his arms most people would not be able to do anything.

"Prisoner X-191229152118, name, age and origin unknown, do you know why you are here today?" Harry tilted his head to the side, as if thinking about what he was being asked about. "Nope, but I claim innocence. It was not me. I was not there. If you want I am sure that I can find twenty people who can agree with me being at another place at the time of the crime, just let me get into Gringotts so I can get some money to bribe the witnesses with." The words came out effortless and Harry saw confusion in their faces. He already had a good idea about what the trial was about but damn if he was going to make it easy for them. He might as well get a little fun out of it.

Percy cleared his throat and Harry forced himself to pay attention to the Weasley boy. He wondered if Percy had made peace with the rest of his family now where it was a well known fact that Voldemort was back in life. "At the 9th of January prisoner X-191229152118 arrived in the ministry in the form of a black kitten with a white marking on its forehead. Further investigations have shown that no feline animagus with this marking has been registered in the register. Prisoner X-191229152118 is also an unknown person since no identification has been found on his person and therefore Veritaserum will be used under this trial." While Weasley was talking a Quick quill had been busy writing down everything the man said.

**)00(**

After his father had died of dragon pox not long after Lucius had graduated from Hogwarts the Malfoy had taken his father's position as lord Malfoy. With the title followed many duties, some less entertaining than others, and watching trials usually counted as less than fun. Of course he had never attended a trial where the former Boy Who Lived was a part of it.

Since the boy insisted on calling him by his first name Lucius decided that he might as well return the favour. But instead of Harry he was Evan. Potter was the brat who had tricked him into freeing one of house elves in the boy's second year. Evan James on the other hand was a powerful wizard and the lover of the dark lord.

Looking the boy over now Lucius would have found it rather hard to believe if not because he had already seen the proofs, several times at that. The boy was only dressed in trousers and a shirt which had once been white. Now it was coloured with what looked to be blood and things he preferred not to think too much about. Evan had lost weight and he looked somewhat tired. But other than a few bruises he seemed mostly okay, although Lucius wanted to get the boy cleaned and get a healer to check up on him.

Evan seemed to be somewhat comfortable in the chair he was seated in, but having sat there himself after lord Voldemort's first reign he knew that the chair was anything but that. Lucius was not sure as why he was present, the dark lord had made it clear that he was not to interfere before the attack started. Until then he was to drag time out and give Evan his silent support.

He felt more than saw professor Dumbledore tense next to him. It was clear that the headmaster had recognised Evan although it did not seem to be the case with anybody else. The only reason to why Lucius had let himself be seated next to Dumbledore was because he wanted to see how the man reacted. Also he was ready to stop the man in case the headmaster should attempt on doing anything.

"Wheezby, the potion." Lucius looked unimpressed as the third oldest Weasley jumped from his seat and hurried over to the box which held the potion.

His silver eyes slit over to Evan, watching the boy watching Weasley. Evan seemed calm but Lucius was used to watching people and he saw how the jaw clenched and the way the eyes hardened when Weasley took forth the potion.

The Veritaserum was a clear substance in a small vial. From experience Lucius knew that the substance was colourless and odourless. Three drops were enough to make a person spill their deepest secrets if just the right questions were asked. From the look of Evan's face Lucius would say that the boy already knew about this. He wondered shortly where Evan had gained knowledge of this potion from and he knew that their lord would be interested as well.

"Prisoner X-191229152118, do you know the potential of Veritaserum." When Evan nodded the Weasley continued. "This is your choice, take the potion willingly or you will have to be persuaded to take it." Lucius watched Evan's face, trying to figure out what the boy's decision would be. It would do the boy more harm than good to resist. From other trials of this kind Lucius knew that the minister was willing to go far if he wanted some answers. Some of the man's traits were more Slytherin than Hufflepuff.

Sighing Evan lifted his chin, staring directly at the row of people without actually looking at anyone. Lucius knew that Evan was not a Legilimens so he was not able to inform the boy that their lord was on his way. Hopefully the dark lord would be able to arrive before too many secrets were revealed. "Fine I will take the potion." Just as soon as the words had left the boy's mouth Weasley stepped forward. Evan opened his mouth so three drops could be dropped on his tongue. Lucius noticed the glassy look in Evan's eyes and the slumped way he suddenly sat in the chair. He somewhat reminded him of a disregard doll.

"Prisoner X-191229152118 state your day of birth and name." Madam Bones started and Lucius' throat tightened. He knew that his mask was perfect and no one would be able to sense his anxiety. "31 July, 1980, Harry James Potter." Evan said as he rested his against the back of the chair.

At first a deep silence filled the room as the words seemed to slowly sink in. One after another they slowly turned to face the headmaster of Hogwarts. After all, Albus Dumbledore had claimed to have killed the boy after having discovered that the boy was a supporter of the dark lord. And yet the boy was sitting in front of them, and not looking the slightest bit dead if Lucius had to say it himself.

"Professor Dumbledore, how is this possible?" Fudge asked, visible unsure about how to react. Had Lucius not had prior knowledge about this he would probably have felt just as confused as the minister, but never would he have shown it like the man was doing right now.

"It is dark magic, my dear minister. I killed the boy. Voldemort must have used dark magic to bring him back to life. It is necromancy." Lucius frowned as Fudge nodded, eagerly wanting to believe the old wizard's words. "Excuse me, minister, but did you, headmaster, not say that the boy's body disappeared after you killed him? Even the youngest child who lives in the Wizarding world knows that to do necromancy one needs the dead body."

"He must have had a portkey which took him straight to Voldemort." Again people in the room, bare three of them, flinched at the name. "It seems rather unbelievable. After the incident in the Triwizard Tournament 1994 the wards were updated so that no portkey is able to work inside them."

Before Dumbledore or anyone else could come with a retort a clear laughter filled the room and they turned their attention to the prisoner in the chair, who had been quiet while they had been discussing between themselves.

A single tear ran down Evan's cheek from laughing when the boy sat straight up in the chair. If not for the still glassy look in the green eyes Lucius would have believed that Evan somehow had managed to fight off the effect of the Veritaserum. When the laughter died out the boy was calm, but a small smile played on his lips. He stretched his legs before crossing his feet. If not for his arms being forced onto the armchairs he would have looked quite comfortable.

"Mr. Potter did professor Dumbledore kill you and are you a supporter of You Know Who?" Madame Bones asked, asking the questions Lucius knew the others wanted answers on. "Dumbledore killed me, but everything else is a lie. Voldemort never returned me to life since I am not one of his followers." Lucius watched the boy through slightly narrowed eyes. Since the boy was still under influence of the potion what he said had to be the truth, but what did he mean that he did not follow their lord?

"What do you mean that you are not You Know Who's follower?" Weasley yelled from his chair, blushing fiercely at the disapproving glances he got from Madame Bones. But Evan was already speaking again, his response came out with the same monotone that the rest of the answers had been answered with. As it he did not really care about what they were talking about.

"I am not one of Voldemort's followers and neither will I ever be. After all, why should I be the man's follower when I am marked to be his equal? The prophecy said so itself."

"It is a lie boy, the prophecy is about Neville Longbottom. He is the true Boy Who Lived. Who would ever believe that it could be about you?" In his anger Dumbledore accidently formed a question, therefore he forced Evan to answer.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies ..." Lucius stared shocked at the boy. This was the first time he heard the prophecy and no matter how he tried to look at it, it did not look good. The dark lord already knew about the prophecy and since Evan had not yet been killed Lucius guessed that their lord was looking for a way around the prophecy. He had not heard it been done before but if anyone should be able to it would be the two of them. "Explain how that proves that you are to be the one the prophecy speaks about." Fudge huffed.

"The chosen one has to be a male, he is born in the closing days of July. His parents had defied Voldemort three times and lived to tell about it. All that fits both Neville and I. But in the end it was Voldemort who made the choice. He came the house of my parents and killed them. Afterwards he tried to cast the killing curse on me, but it rebound, and hit him. The scar is a proof that Voldemort marked me as his equal and therefore I am the Boy Who Lived and not Neville."

Silence filled the room after Evan had stopped speaking. The boy was looking straight forward, but not at any of them. Lucius resisted the urge he felt to look behind him to see just what it was the boy found so fascinating.

They did not have to wait for long before they got a reaction. Dumbledore stood from his chair, his eyes blazing with anger and the usually twinkle was gone. Still, the man's voice sounded normal as he started to speak. "My dear gentlemen and lady. It seems like Voldemort has decided to play a game on us. Voldemort did in fact mark Neville Longbottom the night his parents died. He ordered the Lestranges to torture the boy's parents and marked the boy. It was not a visible mark which is the reason to why Neville was not recognised as the Boy Who Lived right away as he should have been. The mark is on the boy's soul because he was forced to see how his parents were tortured to insanity."

Even to Lucius it sounded farfetched but it seemed like he was the only one who thought so. Despite Dumbledore no longer being in so good graces as the man ones had been he still knew how to get people to follow him. By using their fear for lord Voldemort he made them listen by offering a solution to how they would get rid of the dark lord. By doing so he was dooming them all to a fatal failure.

Fudge nodded, evidently happy to believe the headmaster's words. Lucius gritted his teeth silently. If he had been on the side of the so called light he would have felt the need to throttle the people in the room because they were licking the man's words up as if it was the finest milk.

"Mr. Potter, are you an unregistered animagus?" Realising that they had gone back to interrogating the boy Lucius forced his attention back to the process. "Yes." The boy answered without missing a single beat. "Wheezby the counter potion."

Again there were no problems with feeding the boy his potion. Lucius watched as Evan blinked until the glassy look finally disappeared from the boy's face. Instantly his eyes hardened into a glare which was directed at the headmaster and the minister. "As an unregistered animagus Mr. Potter is to spend five years in Azkaban. Furthermore because of him being a follower of You Know Who Potter will after those five years be Kissed. Any properties Mr. Potter may have and his vaults will be given to the ministry."

Lucius stared in disbelief at the minister. Even when Evan, under the influence of the Veritaserum, had stated that he was no follower of the dark lord, they would still punish him as if he was one.

Before the auror could chain Evan and remove him from the chair a deep rumble ran through the room. Smirking Lucius took his wand out of his cane, making sure that no one else was paying any attention to his action. It seemed like his lord had decided to start the attack and if Lucius himself had to say so it was not a moment too early.

**Oh, just so you know it people Harry's prisoner number actually has a meaning, though it has to be read together with the X. Cookies to all those who can guess what it means.**

**And the two vampires know of the prophecy because... I have really no idea but it fits into the story and it would just be like Sanguini to know about such a thing. **

**Next: The big fight we have all been waiting for. Who will win? And who will live while others have to die? Well, you just have to wait for me to update to find out. **

**Oh, remember to review. It is always nice to hear what you think and I find myself more inspired to write when I read peoples' reviews. **


	28. Chapter 28

**Warning: Character deaths. Yes, it is plurals as in more than one person is going to die. **

**Disclaimer: I put the rights to Harry Potter in my letter to Santa Clause but I have a feeling that it will not be one of the gifts under the Christmas tree this year. **

**Beta: angelhitomie**

**Just so you know it people, this will be the last chapter in the story, so enjoy it. **

Feeling the floor under his feet shake Harry's body tensed in the chair. His head was finally clear and he felt normal again after having consumed the antidote. His belief that the Veritaserum would be similar to the imperious curse and therefore he should be able to fight the effect off had been proven wrong. The potion had not forced him to do anything as the imperious curse would have done. Instead Harry had only felt apathy. A few times there had been a little bust of emotions, which had encouraged him to speak further than to just answer the question he was being asked.

Yet another tremble went through the room and Harry's eyes widened as he sought out Lucius among the risen people, hoping that the Malfoy lord would be able to tell him what was going on. The corners of Lucius' mouth twisted slightly, as if he was trying to fight back a smirk. Harry's eyes wandered to the man's right hand which was holding a familiar wand, although no one else seemed to notice it, and Harry's eyes widened even more in understanding.

It seemed like Voldemort had decided that it was his turn to play the hero of the day.

"Auror, escort prisoner Potter to the apparating point and take him to Azkaban. Whatever is happening we cannot risk of him getting away." Dumbledore ordered, effectively taking the role as the leader in the middle of the panic.

Seeing the auror was about to follow orders Harry decided that it was time for him to act. He was not about to let himself be dragged off to Azkaban, the place which had ruined his godfather's life for twelve years.

Without a second thought Harry sent his magic through his arms and wrenched himself away from the chair. An unpleasant tingle spread quickly through his arm at the action and Harry shook his arms in hope of getting rid of the rather creepy feeling.

Looking up he met the auror's gaze. It seemed like the auror was shocked by his actions and was temporary frozen. "What can I say, it is magic?" Stepping forward Harry placed his hands on the man's chest and blasted him backwards and into a wall. The man fell to the floor and did not get up again. It was payback for having poked him with the wand and generally just annoying him.

Glancing around Harry realised that both Fudge and Dumbledore had made themselves sacred from the room while he had been distracted. Percy Weasley lay at the floor with closed eyes and a small stream of blood was running steadily from the corner of the redhead's mouth. Harry did not know if Weasley was dead or not and neither did he care. He just hoped that the twins would not stumble over the corpse.

Lucius was occupied with duelling Nott. Deciding that the blond was doing well enough on his own Harry turned his attention to the only witch in the room.

Amelia Bones looked relative unharmed which surprised Harry. He guessed that Lucius had been distracted by Nott before he had been able to take care of the witch.

Harry glanced at the wand being pointed at him. There had once been a time where he would have felt vulnerable in a situation like this. But that had been when he was still a naive Gryffindor who believed Dumbledore's every word as if they came from Merlin himself.

Instead of attacking her like he had done with the auror Harry just stood and watched the witch carefully. Tilting his head to the sight and narrowing his eyes he could see the similarity to Susan Bones who had been in his year. Bare his fourth year the girl had been friendly. "If you hurry up you will still have a chance to get away."

"What are you playing at Mr. Potter?"

Harry just shook his head at the witch's question. "I have nothing against you and if I remember correctly you are the only living relative Susan has left. So if you hurry I am sure that you can still manage to get away." The witch's eyes narrowed although she lowered her wand a bit. "Do not wait too long, Madam Bones. I can ensure you that my companions will not hesitate to kill you. When you are out I suggest you find your niece. If you do not feel that you can accept Voldemort's regime it will be a good idea to flee from the country. I have heard that France should be nice at this time of the year."

The witch nodded before turning around and hurrying towards a door which Harry had not seen before now. Perhaps Dumbledore had disappeared through a similar one? "You do realise that there is a risk that she might alert someone about what is happening?" Harry flinched at the voice behind him before he turned to face Lucius. The blonde had drops of blood on his face and on the robes, but looked unharmed. Looking around the Malfoy lord Harry saw what he supposed was Nott's corpse. It was reduced to a pile of smoking ash.

"Why did you let her go?"

"I know how it is to grow up alone and believe me, it is nothing I wish for somebody if it can be avoided." Lucius looked at him for a long minute before bowing his head in acceptance. "Very well, let us just hope that your actions do not get back and bite us in the arse."

Gaping Harry felt it when hit jaw hit the floor. "You cursed." The Malfoy lord raised an eyebrow at his comment. "It seems like your imprisonment has damaged your hearing. I suggest you let my wife or Severus take a look to ensure that no real damage has been made."

Blinking several times Harry had to run to catch up with Lucius, who was already heading towards the double door. "You know, when you speak like that one can nearly hear that you are related to Mortimus." Lucius stiffened for a moment before continuing towards the door. "Of course Evan, he was after all my grandfather and he was still alive when I was young."

Harry felt himself smile. It was nice to know that even though they could act like stuck ups Mortimus had still managed to have influence on his descendants. Silently he wondered what would happen if the rest of the Wizarding world were to see this side of the Malfoy family. Perhaps they would not have to fight then. The other side would faint in shock and they could lock them in somewhere where they would not be able to do any harm.

Although the thought was tempting Harry knew that it was not going to happen. He doubted very much that he would be able to talk Draco and Lucius into doing such a thing. According to them a Malfoy did not let go of their mask in the public.

"Keep up Evan." Harry rolled his eyes at the commanding tone but otherwise he did as ordered. As a frequent visitor he trusted Lucius to be able to find his way around the place. Without him chances were that Harry would get hopelessly lost.

Grimacing at the thought of wandering around in the ministry forever Harry sent his magic forward and blasted the double door off of its hinges. "Knock, knock."

"Evan, it seems like we have to work on your manners. Usually one knocks on the door before they walk through. Of course it is more normal to open the door instead of blasting it to piece." Harry shrugged. "Well, normality is overrated anyway and believe me, Voldemort tried to teach me manners for years. What makes you think that you can accomplish where he failed?" Harry asked as he admired the dent the door had made in the wall on the opposite side of the corridor. He had not meant to put that much power into the blast.

Harry turned his head in the direction from where he could hear running feet and shouting voices. He guessed that people were either going toward the fight or trying to flee. He doubted very much that the death eaters and their allies could have come this far already. Although for them to be able to hear the noises from the fight they were either close or something huge was going.

He was startled out of his thoughts when a soft hand landed on his shoulders. Turning his head his eyes met Lucius' silver grey orbs. "Are you ready?"

"Just lead the way, Lucius."

"As long as you make sure that you do not fall behind."

Nodding Harry let Lucius lead the way. It was at times like this he wished that he could use the Marauders Map at other places than only Hogwarts. It would have given them an advantage in knowing how many people they were running into when they turned around a corner. It seemed like most people had caught up on what was happening and had decided that once a death eater always a death eater. And since Harry was following Lucius Malfoy he had to be just as evil as the pureblood lord.

Taking out the fifth person Harry grunted in annoyance, ignoring the disapproving look Lucius sent him because of the noise. "We are getting nowhere. If we continue like this we risk of getting caught before we reach the others." He said, wiping the sweat away from his forehead. "Evan, if you have some method which can alert us if someone is in front of us, you are welcome to use it. But the ministry building has wards placed around the whole place to stop people from listening in on conversations they have."

The words died on Lucius' tongue when he suddenly spotted Harry with two black and furry feline ears on top of his head. "Well, I suppose that might work."

"Let us get going. I can hear running feet behind us and I doubt very much that it is someone with good intentions."

As they moved through the nearly evacuated hall ways Harry could not help but compare this to the Hogsmeade attack. Salazar, he even had the cat ears like he had had at that time. And like last time Harry was aware of the fact that Voldemort was somewhere in this chaos, fighting against someone or another.

And yet so many things differed from the last time. He and Voldemort were both stronger and more prepared since this attack had been somewhat planned. Also this time they had several allies on their side. Harry would say that they had good chances but until he saw how the fight was going he would wait with a final conclusion.

Both wizards stopped when they came to a hall which Harry recognised. The door to the elevator which he had arrived in was open and empty. It seemed like no one had thought of using it. "Come." Harry was halfway inside the elevator when a hand grabbed his collar and pulled him backwards and out of the elevator. "What are you doing? If it is something about Malfoys' always going first then forget about it, we have no time for such things."

"You do realise that there is a reason to why the elevator is still here?"

Harry tilted his head to the side and frowned. He looked back and forth between Lucius and the elevator, trying to figure out what the Malfoy lord meant. To him it looked harmless but from the way Lucius had asked he guessed that there was a good reason behind it.

Seeing that Harry was not getting the clue Lucius sighed and finally began to explain. "In case that something happens we will be trapped in the elevator without any means of getting out of it. Also whoever is on the upper levels will easily hear our arrival."

Now where Lucius had said it, it actually sounded pretty logically. "Well, Einstein, how do you suppose we get up then? I have no interest in staying here while all the others are fighting."

"Since I do not recognise the name I will take a shot and guess that you just compared me with a muggle which I do not appreciate."

"Silly Malfoy, Einstein was a genius who lived in Hitler's, sorry I mean Grindelwald's lifetime."

"Just because I do not care much about muggles it does not mean that I am unaware of muggle history he was from Sweden."

Harry shook his head and rolled his eyes upward, as if beseeching higher help. Why was it him who had to deal with Lucius' lack of knowledge about the muggle world? If they had been in another situation Harry would gladly have started explaining how it really was. He guessed that this was how Hermione had felt in the past when she had had to deal with him and Ron.

"And I ask again, how are we going to get to the upper levels if we are unable to use the elevator?"

"Why, we take the stairs of course." Harry stared at the wizard and blinked slowly before he looked around, his eyes searching. "What stairs?"

"Those which were used before the elevators were built."

Harry felt like a dwarf had somehow sneaked into his head and started working on his brain with its hammer. "Lucius, I think that you might be suffering from the inbreed among your purebloods. Because no matter where I am looking I see no stairs."

"That would be because they are hidden."

Harry's ears twisted in annoyance. "Then would it not be a good idea to find them so that we can get up and join the others? Not to stress you or anything but I can inform you that those behind us are getting closer and I really doubt that they have anything friendly planned if they should find us."

The Malfoy lord nodded curtly and strode over to the far of wall. Harry followed him, cursing the fact that Lucius' legs were longer than his and he therefore had to nearly run or else he would have fallen behind.

Lucius continued straight through the wall and Harry, after figuring out that it probably worked the same way as 9 ¾ followed straight after the man. Having seen the stairs at Hogwarts Harry was by no way impressed when he stepped through the barrier. But where the stairs at the magical school were wide and straight, this stair was narrow and winding. When Harry laid his head back and looked upwards it seemed like the stair continued on forever.

"Follow me." Snapping his head in the direction of the voice Harry realised that Lucius had already started walking up the stairs, not bothering with waiting for him. Scowling Harry had to run to catch up with the older wizard. He had no intention about being left behind. He needed Lucius to get out of this place. Left on his own and with his sense of direction Harry was pretty sure that he would manage to get lost.

Venturing up the stairs the air between them grew tense as the two wizards went up without meeting anyone else on their way. All sounds of the fight the both knew had to be going on were gone and if not for the shakes running through the walls and the floor Harry would have thought that everything was perfectly normal. Then again, when was anything ever normal in the Wizarding world?

Since he was the one with the best hearing Harry took the lead. His cat ears were turned forward, trying to catch every little sound which might alert them that someone was lurking in somewhere in front of them. Behind him he could hear Lucius breathing more heavily than normally. It seemed like even a Malfoy was affected by walking up so good damn many stairs.

Suddenly Harry came to a stop, and Lucius stopped less than an inch away from him. Harry could particularly feel the heat radiating from the man's body. The ears flickered backwards and forwards while Harry tried to locate the sound he was sure he had heard.

Harry sneezed several times before narrowing his eyes and looking upwards. Green eyes widened when he saw cracks in the stairs over them. It started like a fine web but spread quickly. It seemed like he had found the source to the noise he had heard.

He stood as frozen and stared up at the stone stair over them as the cracks spread. He did not react when an explosion sounded over them and speed up the process of destroying the stairs. Rubbles fell down towards them and Harry knew that he would be buried under them if he did not move. And yet Harry was unable to make his feet move. It was like he had lost all control over his body and only could stand watching what was surely to become the death of him.

Something slammed into him from behind, sending Harry tumbling upwards the stairs. Harry let out a cry of surprise as he held his arms up to take off his fall. He winced when he landed on the steps, knowing that it was going to leave a mark. He yelped in pain as his bruises came in contact with the steps. At least his ribs were healed or Harry was sure that he would have been in a lot more pain than he was right now.

Harry lay still while he tried to calm his breathing. It felt like his heart was trying to force its way out through his chest with how fast it was beating. Hearing a pained sound behind him Harry rolled around on the stair to get a look on how bad the damage was. His eyes widened when he saw how big a part of the stairs over them was missing. It had seemed much smaller when the stones had been on their way towards crushing him.

The pained sound came again and Harry's eyes snapped to the stairs under him, where he had been not even a moment before.

Lucius lay flat on the steps, face down. The blond's hair was mangled and filled with dust from when the rubbles had fallen. Harry's gaze wandered downwards, trying to find out if Lucius was hurt. Something had to make the Malfoy lord produce such a sound.

Harry's expression turned grim when he saw Lucius' leg. Most of it was caught under the debris and although Harry could not see how bad it was he had a feeling that it was not good. "Idiotic blond, why did you do that?" Lucius proved that he was still conscious by lifting his head in response to the sound of Harry's voice. "I could not very well just stand and watch you be crushed under the stones. Our lord would have killed me if something had happened to you while I was watching you. It is no good to spend so much time together with Gryffindors. Your headless behaviour seems to rub off on people."

Lucius let out a laugh, which turned into coughing when dust got into the man's lungs. "Take it easy Lucius, I will try to get you free." Harry glared at the rubbles and was about to make a try when he felt a tug in his pants. "Do not waste your time Evan, it is more important to find our lord." Rolling his eyes at the blond's words Harry answered: "It seems like you have forgotten something about us Gryffindors. We are thick headed and if we have an idea next to nothing can make us change our minds."

Harry ignored the blood seeping out from where Lucius' leg was. He did not need to think about that right now, it would only help to distract him from his task. Instead he focussed on his magic and let it flow through his hands, surrounding the debris and forcing the stones to move at his will. Sweat was running down his neck and forehead. It was the first time that Harry tried lifting something so heavy. With wards he could stretch his magic, but there were nothing else than magic and air. Here he had to lift something which weighted a great deal more than air.

As soon as the rubbles were high enough in the air, Harry flung them away, not caring about what he might hit. He had much more important things to worry about at the moment.

Now where Lucius' leg was free Harry was able to see just how much damage had happened. The leg looked flat, in a lack of better words. Harry guessed that it was how a pancake would look like if it had been made out of meat. As it was he was surprised that Lucius had made no noise of pains other than those small noises he had heard before.

Looking at the Malfoy lord Harry came to a conclusion. "Is there anyone at Malfoy manor?"

"A team of trained healers who will be ready to take in those who have been damaged after the fight has ended, why?"

"I am going to make sure you reach them. Maybe we are lucky and they will be able to do something about your leg."

For the first time Lucius looked down at his leg and Harry saw the man grew paler than he already was. "What are you planning on doing?"

"I am a ward maker and I am also connected to the wards around the Malfoy manor. It should not be too difficult for me to get you to Malfoy manor where you will be safe."

"Evan, if you are thinking about doing what I think then-"

The protests were cut off when Harry reached out which his magic and touched the wards surrounding the ministry. He felt age old magic although he figured that the wards surrounding Gringotts and Hogwarts were much older. Despite the fact that he was working together with the goblins Harry had never really gotten a chance to look closer at the wards surrounding the Wizarding bank. Harry just knew that some very old magic was involved in making the wards and those he was connected to right now, were nothing compared to them. Imagining his magic as two big hands Harry used them to create a hole, big enough in the wards for Lucius to pass through and sent the Malfoy lord towards Malfoy manor with a pop. Breathing heavy Harry sagged back against the stairs, trying to will away the black spots from his eyes. Slowly he got on his feet, leaning against the banister.

Feeling something on his lips Harry lifted his hand and touched his upper lip. Removing the hand Harry stared at the blood which came from his nose. It seemed like it had been harder to lift the wards around the ministry than he had expected.

Slowly Harry turned around and started humping his way up the stairs. Whoever had destroyed the stairs over them could still be there and when he got his hands on them they were going to regret what they had done to Lucius although it had been unintentionally. He would need a rusty spoon, some jam and three white mice.

**)00(**

This was what he had dreamed off since he had been a student at Hogwarts. At first he had just wanted to change the world, turn it into a better one where halfbloods and muggleborns would truly be a part of the world they belonged to. After Evan's supposed death he had realised that he would need much more destructive methods if he wanted to change the world they were living in.

Voldemort stood near the fireplace he had arrived through, watching the fight going on in front and around him. When they had attacked people had been too shocked to react. They were living in their own little bubble and now where it had burst they had had no idea about what to do. The first ones to snap out of the shock were the aurors, which was no surprise seeing as those people had been trained for such situations as this one.

It seemed like people were split between running and defending themselves and others. To Voldemort it did not matter. He would deal with those who got away and wanted to rebel on a later time. Today was the day where the ministry would fall and a new regime would start. And those who had dared to lay as much as a finger on his lover would be forced to pay the price for their actions.

Voldemort knew that his lover and Lucius would be in one of the levels under them. Together with them Dumbledore and Fudge would be as well two people who were destined to die today. He did not fear anything from Fudge. The minister of magic would probably find a hiding place under someone's desk rather than to fight for his people, and he would do no harm.

It was Dumbledore who was the real problem. Voldemort had no guaranty that the headmaster of Hogwarts would not try anything while he and Evan were apart. But he also knew that there was as good as nothing he could do about this. He could only hope that Evan would be able to hold up until he found him.

Feeling a new tremble run through the building Voldemort smirked as he walked through the fighting witches and wizards.

Raising his wand Voldemort sent curse after curse after his enemies, smirking as the fell. As much as he hated to admit it, now was not the time where he could drag their torture out or leave them so he could get back to them later on. Leaving an enemy alive and turning his back to them were the same as asking them to kill him. It was not a risk he was willing to run, not that he believed that they would success but Voldemort had not gotten this far to be taken out by a little mistake. Besides, he was sure that there would be plenty of people to torture later on.

Voldemort threw the Avada Kedavra around him like candy, taking out a group of aurors who were facing away from him. He had moved on before their bodies had even hit the floor. He sidestepped a curse sent in his direction before turning the caster into stone and making the statue shatter with a blink. He red eyes swept over the fighting people, trying to locate familiar green eyes and a lighting scar.

Although he found it doubtful Voldemort could not help but look for his lover among the fighting people. Chances were that Evan was still located in one of the lower levels. Lucius had gotten orders to ensure that Evan met up with them but they could be held up. Either by aurors, panicked ministry people or, in worst case, Albus Dumbledore.

Despite the fact that he had regained his youthful look Voldemort knew that it would not take long before someone would recognise him. After all he was not wearing any mask and there was no way that he could go for being a worker at the ministry. If nothing else then his red eyes would give him away. Normally people would rarely pay attention to a person's eye colour but Voldemort knew his were unusually enough for only one person to have it. And people often paid attention to the weirdest things when they were in a fight of life or death.

"It is You Know Who!" Voldemort stopped and looked at the witch who was pointing at him with a raised eyebrow. Sometimes people acted like muggles. Not thinking and acting irresponsible.

Knowing that he no longer had a reason to hold himself back, Voldemort sped the tempo of his spells up, throwing them with a tempo which came from years of training.

Hearing noises from over their heads Voldemort looked upwards although he already knew what he would see. It seemed like the giants had managed to break through the roof, which sent pieces of the ceiling down towards them. Voldemort raised his wand to protect himself. He knew that most of his own people would be doing the same, that was if they did not have a suicide wish.

But the shield proved to be unneeded. A silver shimmer spread over their heads, effectively protecting them all from the pieces of the building which were falling down around them. Voldemort narrowed his red eyes, recognising the magical signature after having seen it so many times before and only knowing one person who could think of pulling such a stunt in the middle of a fight and thus protecting friends and foes alike.

His eyes fell on an anonymous looking balcony where a person was seated on the railing, staring up at where the roof had once been. Even from this distance Voldemort had no troubles with recognising Evan.

Voldemort started making his way towards Evan. Those who stood in his way did not have enough time to regret the decision as Voldemort ended their lives without a second thought.

He saw Evan look over the group of fighting people and knew that his lover would not be able to find him when they were so far apart. The realisation made Voldemort try to go faster.

The dark lord stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the shield disappear suddenly and the rubble started to fall again. One of the bigger pieces hit the balcony where Evan was. Wordlessly Voldemort watched as the balcony crumbled under the sudden weight and Evan fell.

His eyes followed his lover's body until it disappeared into the mass of the people covering the floor.

**)00(**

"He brought giants with him!" Harry was thankful that the noise from under him stopped anyone from hearing his shriek. His eyes were turned upwards, watching as the giant tiered their way through the roof as if it was made of butter. At least he now knew what had made the whole building tremble even when he had been several levels under his current position. "That idiot, what did he think? Bet he forgot to use his beloved brain. How did he get them here without the muggles noticing anything?"

Shaking his head, Harry continued to pour magic into the shield he had conjured. He knew that the rubble would probably have taken many of their enemies out, but chances were that just as great part of their own people would be killed, which was not something he was willing to accept.

Harry continued ranting to himself as he looked down from the balcony he had somehow ended up. He guessed that he had missed a door on his way up. But with the way the Wizarding world worked there might as well never have been a door in the first place.

He leaned over the railing staring at the people on the floor under him. White masked people, together with werewolves and blurs which he guessed the vampires, attacked the ministry workers and aurors. Despite having vampires and werewolves with them, the ministry was still predominating. The elves were nowhere to be seen, but if Harry remembered correctly they were supposed to be waiting for the goblin in another part of the ministry and start working their way from there.

Realising that he would not be able to spot anyone he knew from his current position Harry flattered his ears in disappointment. He wanted to know if Voldemort and the others were okay. But more than anything he wanted to find Dumbledore and get rid of the old goat. But no matter how hard he looked Harry was unable to spot the neon green robes with purple polkas Dumbledore had been wearing in his trial. For all he knew the headmaster could have fled from this place already.

Frowning Harry jumped up at the railing and crunched down. He wanted to help here but even more did he want to find the headmaster and take the headmaster out before anyone else got the chance to do so.

Being in deep thoughts Harry never noticed when his grip around the magic slacked. Neither did he notice the stones falling before he heard panicked and pain filled screams from down under him. Harry leaned forward and paled when he saw what had happened. So preoccupied with what had happened Harry never noticed the piece of roof hitting the balcony where he was seated.

Harry felt the railing disappear from under his feet. Twisting his body Harry tried to get into a position where he would be less hurt when he hit the floor. He did not dare too slower his fall in case that someone would take the chance and try to hit him with a spell while he was still in the air.

Instead of feeling the impact with the floor as he had expected Harry was caught in arms before he could hit the floor. The arms were holding securely and yet in a gentle grip, as if the person feared that he would break at the slightest pressure.

Blinking slowly and realising that he was no longer falling Harry looked up at the person who had managed to stop his fall.

"Hello little wizard, how nice to see you. Do you come here often?" Harry rubbed his eyes before looking at the vampire holding him. "Sanguini, if Voldemort finds out that you are trying to use that kind of lines on me I suggest that you start writing a will. Just so you know it I am already in a relationship."

"Of course, and I would not have it any other way."

Shaking his head Harry figured that Sanguini probably had a meaning behind his words. Perhaps, if he got time later on he would try to figure the vampire out. "Do you mind letting go of me?"

"But little wizard I find this position rather comfortable." Despite his words Sanguini did as asked and Harry found himself standing on the floor. The quick movements and the sudden shift from horizontal to vertical position made him feel dizzy for a short moment before Harry managed to regain his bearings.

Sanguini stood next to him with a goofy grin which made Harry feel the urge to hit the vampire. Knowing that it would harm him more than it would hurt the vampire Harry stopped himself from following it. Besides, now was not the time for such antics. They could continue their banters once they were in more peaceful situations.

As if sensing his thoughts Sanguini's face turned serious. "Are you hurt? I can smell blood on you although it seems old." Realising that the vampire was worried about him Harry shook his head, while sending a curse towards a witch. "No, it is blood from some old injuries, other than a few bruises I am fine."

Harry sidestepped a curse sent in his direction before hauling one back to the sender, not staying still long enough to see if he actually hit someone. With this many people around them it was nearly impossible not to hit someone. The more difficult task was to ensure that it was not one of their allies.

"Any ideas about how it is going at Hogwarts?" Harry dodged under Sanguini's arm to send a curse towards a wizard. The man was hit square in the chest and Harry moved on, trying not to look at the man's face. Yes, he hated killing people, but this was war. And chances were that if he did not kill them they would use the opportunity to kill him.

"Last time I heard was that they were making their way into Honeydukes. The shopkeepers have been Imperiod to ensure that no one will be alerted about what is going to happen. If everything goes as planned people will be inside in roughly fifteen minutes." A beam of fire flew over his head and Harry felt the hair on his ears being switched. Hissing he flattered his ears and let Sanguini take care of the caster of the spell. He avoided looking at the auror whose life ended with Sanguini's arm through his chest.

The vampire looked unbothered by the red liquor colouring his robes as he returned to Harry's side. "Where is Voldemort?" Understanding the question Sanguini showed Harry to the side as a woman who had apparently lost her wand but not her will to fight bodily jumped them. "He is here, somewhere. It is rather hard to keep track of people when it is so hectic."

Harry smirked cruelly at Sanguini's answer. If Voldemort was there it meant that Dumbledore had to be somewhere as well. After all, the plan was that Voldemort was the one who should go after the headmaster. "Let us see who reaches him first, shall we." Harry muttered and from the look Sanguini threw him Harry knew that the vampire had heard him and probably also knew what he meant. Luckily it did not seem like Sanguini had any plans about stopping him.

He knew that Sanguini probably was acting like a bodyguard. It was the only reason to why the vampire lord was following him around like a puppy. Although Harry was not happy with the thought of having a babysitter, he was aware of the times Sanguini had stopped an attack at his person already. At least the vampire did not attempt to stop him from fighting.

Harry was not about to let anyone treat him like some lady. Especially not a vampire who was older than anyone he knew and who would probably outlive him.

Harry jumped forward and started making his way through the mass. He let himself get lost in the magic, and soon he was no longer sure if he was the wizard who lashed out at the people around him or if he was the magic which maimed and killed the people it touched.

The metallic smell of blood filled the air and smoke drifted out of the big hole in the roof, hiding the three giants and the sky from view.

Next to him was Sanguini, who only left his side to kill those who dared to play target practice on them. Harry would blink and the vampire would be back at his side, as if he had never left in the first place.

It was harder for Harry to fight against the ministry workers rather than the aurors. Every time he caught a glimpse of their scared faces he felt a pang of guilt. Those people were not trained to this kind of fighting and they had probably not a choice but trying to defending themselves against the attackers. Then again, he knew that they would kill those who stood in their way if they believed that it would get them out of this mess alive.

The air was knocked out of Harry's lungs when a blue beam hit him in the side. The spell did no real damage but he felt bruises on the size of a fist form at his chest, making it painful to breathe. Harry silently urged himself to go on. This was nothing compared to what he had gone through while living with the Dursleys and therefore it would not be able to stop him.

Harry jumped towards the fireplaces, catching a glimpse of some of the people. Cursing he realised that the Order of the Phoenix had finally arrived as he recognised some of the faces which he had seen at meetings at Grimauld Place.

A pained yelp escaped him when something sharp pierced his right shoulder. Harry used his left hand to remove the object. He felt the blood run freely and transformed the small throwing knife into a cloth, using it to stop the blood running from his wounded shoulder. Looking up he met Sanguini's gaze. The vampire looked away after his eyes flickered to the wound. Harry guessed that it was the vampire's status as an old one which stopped him from jumping Harry despite the smell of fresh blood this close.

Harry shook his head to clear it from the mist. He yelled hoarsely and used his hands to mimic the spell Ron had used at him when he had been held captured by Dumbledore. Severus had taught him the spell, explaining just how much damage it could do when used correctly and how he had invented it. The man in front of him fell with blood running from wound all over his body.

A new sound alerted Harry of the arrival of the elves and the goblins, who were lead by Ragnok.

Although being two so different races both kinds sure knew how to dress to be imposing in a fight. Harry guessed that they got their armoury from the same place since it looked so similar. But the goblins' armoury seemed more solid than the elves'.

With the two allies joining the fight they were finally turning the tide. They started forcing the Order and the ministry back. Harry saw some of the people start begging for their lives and moved along, ignoring them. He knew that not all could be killed. After all they needed people if not the British Wizarding world was to die out. Hopefully the others would also be able to realise this.

Harry stopped dead in his tracks when he finally managed to reach the fireplaces.

Near the fireplace was a green tilted Neville Longbottom who looked exactly like he had done at the day in Hogsmeade, if only more nervous. The boy was clutching his wand in his hand which Harry noticed was shaking. It was clear, even to him, that Neville wanted to be anywhere else than where he was right now.

Green eyes swept around but were unable to find a trace of hideous coloured robes. Still Harry knew that Dumbledore had to be around somewhere and he doubted that he was far away. Unlike he Neville was not the kind of person to run head first into something without thinking it through. The mild mannered Gryffindor was not supposed to be here today.

But Neville was the new Boy Who Lived so Harry guessed that it made sense. According to Dumbledore Neville was now the one supposed to defeat Voldemort. Knowing the pressure which followed with such a responsibility Harry felt for the other Gryffindor.

"Harry?" The sound of Neville's voice snapped Harry out of his train of thoughts. How he had managed to space out like that in a situation like this Harry had no idea about. "Hullo Neville."

"Dumbledore and all the others said that you were dead." Of all the things Neville could have said that was not what Harry had been expecting. "Well, Dumbledore is known for keeping secrets from people although it proves to be life saving knowledge if other people knew about it. I believe he calls it for the greater good. Bullshit, that is what I say."

It felt weird to talk to the Gryffindor like this. As if they were back at Hogwarts and discussing Severus' unfair treatment of the Gryffindors.

Looking at Neville Harry realised that like it had been the case with madam Bones he had no wish about fighting against the other boy. Neville had never tried to annoy or harm Harry. And Harry knew that it could not be by Neville's own decision that he was there.

Knowing that he would not have to worry about those around them since he trusted Sanguini to take care of any who would try and interrupt them, Harry stepped closer to the other boy. "Why are you still alive?" Harry stopped in surprise when he saw Neville's wand pointed directly at his chest. Despite his situation Harry snorted. "Why so surprised? It is not the first time I am supposed to have died and yet I have not died. My guess is that Death is not ready for the spawn of a Marauder."

"Dumbledore said that I am the true Boy Who Lived."

"Neville, you are a great person, but you do not have to believe what Dumbledore says. You were with me in the ministry last year. The prophecy about the chosen one and Voldemort could only be taken down by one of those the prophecy involved. And last I checked it was me who took the prophecy down from its shelf."

Neville lowered his wand down to his side with an almost thankful smile. "I do not want to be the Boy Who Lived. Everyone expects me to do something great and they will not let me spend my time in the green houses. Says that the hero of the Wizarding world has to be good at DADA and not play with mud and plants." Harry was surprised by the amount of bitterness which could be heard in Neville's voice. "It is okay, you do not have to bear that burden anymore. I will make sure that everyone understands that. You are under my protection Neville and if you do not want to, you do not have to fight. Personally I think that gardening is rather helpful when calming the mind. You have no idea how often I have done it."

Neville returned his smile and Harry felt his heart flutter with joy. It seemed like less people than he had thought really hated him. "Thanks Harry I-"

Whatever Neville was about to say died on the Gryffindor's lips as he was stuck square in the chest with a too familiar green light.

Harry stood as frozen and could only look on as Neville fell backwards and into the still lit fireplace behind him. The magical fire rose and attacked the body like a hungered beast. But although it had to be painful Neville made no attempt to get out of the fireplace. The boy lay still as the flames latched onto the robes and hair and then started to melt the skin.

Snapping out of the shock Harry jumped towards the fireplace. If Neville would not get up then Harry would help him. Two arms grabbed him from behind, wrapping themselves around his chest and lifting him so his feet no longer could touch the floor. Like last time Harry was held as if he weighted nothing at all and no protest he made, made the one holding him loosen their grip.

"Sanguini, let go off of me or I swear by Salazar that you are going to regret it. He has to get out of there. I have to help him. He is burning." Harry ignored the hurt from his throat from the screaming he was doing. Did the vampire not see that the fire was devouring Neville as if it was made out of wood? "Calm down little wizard. Anger is going to do you no good. The boy is already dead and you know this. You saw him being hit with the Avada Kedavra. There is nothing we can do. Instead of using your energy on a fruitless raging, use it to revenge your friend."

Harry felt himself calm down at Sanguini's words. He was no less mad but the anger had turned into a cold fire inside his chest, so much like the one which was now working on Neville's lower body, having already burned away anything else.

At least he knew that Neville had been dead before he fell but it was only a small comfort.

"Mr. Potter, I had hoped that you would be dead by now." It was only because of his enhanced hearing that Harry was able to hear the words said so clearly. Narrowing his eyes Harry's head snapped to where the voice had come from and a hiss escaped him. "Dumbledore." Harry ignored the way Sanguini's arms clenched around him and tried to claw his way over to the old headmaster.

As he stood among the fighters, with his wand raised after the last curse he had cast Dumbledore looked completely peaceful with the fact that he had just killed one of his own students. Not paying any attention to the vampire who was holding Harry back Dumbledore stepped closer. "I wish this could have been different. Although young Mr. Longbottom was no hero he was still useful as a hope for the people. What a shame that he would let himself be taken by the darkness which even managed to consume you, Mr. Potter."

Dumbledore kept his wand trailed at the two of them while talking, and Harry felt his body tense as he tried to calculate how much Dumbledore had improved since the last time they had fought against each other, which was more than fifty years ago. The thought did nothing to calm his nerves.

"Sanguini, let go off of me."

"You are going to do something stupid little wizard, I am afraid I cannot allow that." Harry did nothing to change the vampire's statement but he found himself lowered until his feet once again were touching the floor. Sanguini kept still behind him, as a statue, with a hand on his should to stop Harry from going anywhere.

Scowling Harry let his magic latch out on his former headmaster but Dumbledore moved his wand and the magic changed direction and disappeared to somewhere. "Give up Mr. Potter. We already know who is going to win this."

"Happy to hear that you admit your defeat old man, but do not believe that it will make me spare your life. You have way too much to pay for." Harry felt Sanguini's hand clench his shoulder to the boarder of painful in a silent warning, but ignored it. Voldemort was nowhere to be seen which meant that Dumbledore was all his, and Harry was not about to let go of this opportunity.

Harry found himself pushed to the side when Dumbledore fired a cruse in their direction. He did not bother with staying still and trying to figure out what kind of curse it was that Dumbledore had used. He had not recognised the colour of the spell and since Dumbledore seemed to be adapt in wordless magic Harry had no words to go from.

He tried to sent curses back at Dumbledore, but with the way Sanguini continued to yank him around it was impossible to get a hit. "Sanguini, slow down." He yelled while trying to dig his heals into the floor, although it seemed to make no difference at all. "Sorry little wizard, but I feel no need to end up like a roasted chicken. Let your lover lord take care of the old goat. My job is simply to make sure that no harm befalls on you until he finds us."

They were brought to stop when bright flames erupted in front of them. Turning around Harry realised that they were surrounded by a ring of flames. From where they were standing Harry could feel the heat from the fire against his skin, idly wondering if this was what a roasted chicken would feel.

"I fear that there will be no more running around, Mr. Potter. You see this is a variation of the Inferno. This one will not go out before someone from inside this circle has fallen into the flames. Until then no one will be able to get in or out." During Dumbledore's speech Harry worried his lower lip between his teeth. He shared a look with Sanguini but was unable to guess what the vampire lord was thinking.

He felt Sanguini squish his shoulder before letting go and taking a step away from Harry. "So you are saying that someone basically has to die for the other two to get out of here?"

"Yes, but of course I will kill one of you and then use the other to turn out the fire." Harry turned to look at the vampire while making sure to watch Dumbledore out of the corner of his eye. He knew that if given the chance Dumbledore would be more than willing to curse them. "What are you planning?"

Sanguini barred his sharp and white teeth in a grin. "Do not worry your pretty head about that little wizard. Just know that I expect you to keep making life interesting although I will not be around to watch it."

Horror stock Harry could only look on as Sanguini used his vampire speed and threw himself into the roaring flames without hesitation. "Sanguini!" Harry yelled, finding himself unable to move as he saw Sanguini step towards the ring of fire. The vampire lord turned around to face him and sent him a grin before he stepped into the flames without a second of hesitation. The flames seemed to roar even higher for a short moment before disappearing completely, taking away any trace there might have been of Sanguini with them.

Tears stung Harry's eyes as they swept around. Sanguini had to be there somewhere. There was no way that the crazy vampire could actually have been killed by the fire. Like with werewolves there were only a few things which could kill a vampire. A fire like that would probably do nothing more than give the vampire a light burn which would heal again in a matter of seconds. Any time now Sanguini would jump forth from his hiding place and laugh at him before Harry had actually dared to believe that the vampire would be killed by such a simple trick. Then he would rage at Sanguini for pulling such a stunt at him, but inwardly Harry would feel a secret relief that the vampire was alive, although he would never admit such a thing out loud.

But no matter how hard Harry looked Sanguini was nowhere to be found. The magical fire had left a trace on the floor and it had forced people to move away from him and Dumbledore. Otherwise there was no trace of what had just happened. There was no sign of Sanguini and Harry knew, although he was not willing to believe it, that Sanguini would not let the prank go on for so long. Not even Sanguini's humour was that bad.

When several seconds had passed with nothing happening Harry slowly turned around and faced Dumbledore. His magic swirled around him, humming in anger and Harry sneered. "First you killed Neville and now Sanguini." Despite the anger being evident in his voice it did not seem to farce the headmaster the slightest bit. "They were both in the way. It was clear that the Longbottom boy was not the one for the job of killing a dark lord and the vampire was just another dark creature. The world is a much better place without those being here to pest it with their presence."

Having been building up the magic sought for a way to relieve the pressure. Harry did not even bother with flinching when something on both sides of him suddenly exploded. He felt something wet and warm hit him and grimaced but did not look away from the headmaster. Harry took the control over his magic back before he harmed someone he cared about.

"You talk about them as if they were pathetic. But Neville was a Gryffindor to the bone and Sanguini was my friend. None of them deserved to die. A pity that the same cannot be said about Grindelwald." Harry gasped and staggered when the level of Dumbledore's magic suddenly rose. It seemed like the man's magic had grown a far greater deal over the span of fifty years than Harry had thought was possible.

"Gellert was a great man, and if not because of that accident he would have ruled the whole world by now, with me by his side." In his anger Dumbledore seemed to forget that they were in a public place. His voice rose over the noise from the fights around them as if someone had cast a Sonorus on him. "Sorry to say it, but accidents tend to happen and in that case its name was Harry Potter. Beside, Grindelwald was not as loyal as you would like to believe. He several times offered me the place by his side, although I rejected it every time."

"Your perplexed mind is spinning lies. There is no way that Gellert would ever have betrayed me. He promised me that we would spend the eternity together."

Harry jumped out of the way for the curse Dumbledore sent after him and was not late to send one back at the headmaster. With the fire gone he had much more space to move around on which made it much easier to avoid getting hit.

He stepped at something soft and lost his footing. Cursing aloud Harry rolled around and quickly removed his legs from the dead body which they had been lying on. Arthur Weasley was staring unseeingly up at the hole in the roof, sprawled out on the floor. Harry felt bile rise and hurriedly moved away from the head of the Weasley family. He no longer loved the red haired family as he once had done. Bare the twins he could not care less about what happened to the family. But as he lay there on the floor Mr. Weasley looked creepy. It could have something to do with the fact that half of the man's face was missing.

Too late Harry saw the curse heading towards him while he still sat on the floor. Unable to get his legs to work Harry could only wait and sit for the curse to hit him. A thin silver coloured appeared in front of him, making the curse bounce off and disappear.

"It seems like you managed to rub your Gryffindorness off on lord Sanguini." A pale hand grabbed his and Harry was helped back on his feet. Standing next to Voldemort Harry felt calm again although the man's words made him grit his teeth. "Sanguini offered his life to save mine and once I get my hands on him I am going to kick his arse for doing so."

All talk was cut short when they suddenly had to defend themselves. The shield Voldemort had created shattered under the pressure from Dumbledore's continuing attacks.

Letting Voldemort handle the offensive part Harry decided to focus on their defence. He let his magic pour into every cell in his body, until they were filled to the brim. Nearly humming with magic Harry first let the magic form a protective dome around him and Voldemort. He ensured that it would hold by constantly feeding it with a steady flow of his magic.

Next Harry decided to take a page out of Dumbledore's book to make sure that no outside force would interrupt their little fight. Knowing the headmaster Harry would not be surprised if the man had something else up in his sleeve. Surely Neville could not have been the only one Dumbledore had brought with him.

But instead of the fire Harry had planned on conjuring the three wizards found themselves surrounded by a enormous scaled snake. Harry's eyes widened when he saw the snake was biting its own tail as if it was trying to eat itself. Meeting Voldemort's gaze Harry shrugged, mouthing that he had no idea about what had happened.

Their silent conversation was stopped when Dumbledore fired a new amount of curses at them, powerful enough to make a web of cracks appear on the dome Harry had made around them.

Biting his lower lip Harry concentrated on forcing more power into the dome when he felt Voldemort grab his hand. Usually the dark lord was not one for showing public affection unless it was to state his claim over Harry's body and person. Much like he had done with the dance at his birthday party.

Feeling Voldemort's magic probe to his skin before moving through it Harry's breathing hitched. He had read about this in one of the books he had borrowed from Mortimus, although he had never gotten the chance to test the theory. If he remembered correctly Voldemort was planning on using his magic to defeat Dumbledore. Should it actually work Harry held no doubt that Dumbledore would stand no chance against their attack.

Another probe made Harry realise that while he had been lost in thoughts Voldemort had already reached his magically core and was now waiting for permission to use it.

Looking up at the taller wizard standing next to him Harry smiled. There had once been a time where he had hated the dark lord with his whole heart. But it seemed like the muggle saying was true. There was a fine line between hate and love.

With that thought Harry lowered the shields surrounding his magical core, allowing Voldemort to take as much as he wanted.

**)00(**

Voldemort sucked in an unwilling breath when he was suddenly allowed entrance to Evan's core. He doubted very much that his lover fully understood the consequences of what he was doing. If he wanted to, Voldemort could drain Evan for all his magic, leaving him as nothing more than a muggle. If was considered a dark ritual for that reason, although the taker had to gain permission to take the magic.

Looking closer at Evan's magically core Voldemort felt his eyebrows rise in surprise. Where his own core was dark, nearly black from the hocruxes Evan's own core was perfectly grey. There was neither a hint of black or white, just pure greyness.

Wanting to analyse the colour more closely but knowing that now as not the time for it Voldemort gently grabbed a tread of Evan's core and took it with him as he created a connection between the two of them.

Back in his own body Voldemort used a short moment to take in Evan's flushed cheeks and short breath before turning his attention back to Dumbledore.

With Evan's magic split between upholding the shield and borrowing the rest to him while keeping the strange snake in place, Voldemort knew that he did not have much time. Taking too long and Evan's magic would be used up, leaving the boy as defenceless as the day he was born.

Voldemort let his wand fell to the ground, knowing that there was no way the piece of wood would be able to handle the amount of magic he was about to use. And although he normally did not need his wand, he, like every other self respected wizard, was attached to the wand. It had been his first real proof that he was indeed a wizard.

Using the extra magic Voldemort renewed his attacks at Dumbledore. Although the old man had much magic there was no way that Dumbledore would be able to stand against his and Evan's united forces.

It was with deep satisfaction watched as Dumbledore was forced to take a few steps back from the sheer power behind the attack. The attacks against them had stopped now where Dumbledore was too busy with trying to hold up his own shield to think about attacking them.

Seeing the sweat dribble down the old man's face and ignoring the fact that he and Evan were not much better off Voldemort renewed his attacks with more magic. With a smirk Voldemort saw how cracks began to appear in the old man's shield, too fast and too many to be repaired.

The shield scattered and disappeared, leaving them panting from the effort.

Dumbledore raised his wand, ready to attack when Voldemort stuck. Taking another bite of Evan's magic Voldemort sent raw magic towards Dumbledore with a wave of his hand.

Dumbledore, too shocked to do anything, stood as frozen until the magically wave washed over him.

At first nothing happened and Voldemort started to wonder, if Dumbledore had somehow managed to stop the magic from hitting him. The he saw it.

A small drop of blood rolled its way from Dumbledore's nose and down his white beard. It steadily grew in size. From the corners of his mouth blood started dribbling and through the glasses he could see what looked like tears in the man's eyes, only the tears were red.

As Dumbledore started to fall the dome and the snake disappeared, as if they had never been there in the first place. Gently he let go off his grip in Evan's magic, feeling strangely lonely and incomplete without the connection between them.

Dumbledore fell, like an old tree finally giving up under its last storm after having lived hundreds of years. Although there was no love lost between the two of them Voldemort still found himself bowing his head in respect of Dumbledore. Despite all the man's faults even he had to admit that Dumbledore had been a great wizard, even if most of the man's reputation had been build on a lie.

The feeling of triumph was short lived. Voldemort felt Evan's hand be ripped out of his and turned around to find what was happening. A strong wind lifted the surrounding people's robes, breaking the concentration of many.

His lover was still standing, but it was clear to Voldemort that something was wrong. Evan started convulsing as if he had been held under the Crucio for a long time. He skin ripped and the pain was clear in Evan's eyes although not a sound passed over his lover's lips.

Taking a step closer Voldemort hesitated. He was no healer and had no idea about what kind of curse could give this kind of effect. Anything he tried might make it all worse.

He stood as frozen and watched as Evan was ripped into pieces. From inside and out.

Starring at what had once been his lover, Voldemort slowly turned around. It seemed like the fights around them had died out when people caught sight of the dead body of Albus Dumbledore.

Voldemort's attention went to a boy, who was the only one moving. A gangly looking red head, who, if the Malfoy heir's description had been correct, also had been behind some of the torture Evan had gone through when his lover had been in Dumbledore's care.

"I killed Harry Potter, I killed Potter. I killed Harry Potter."

The idiotic boy did clearly not understand that such a declaration would only bring him his own death.

A few steps brought him right in front of the boy who stopped laughing once he realised who was standing in front of him. Voldemort watched as the blood was clearly drained from the boy's face, leaving the freckles as the only colour. There were similarities to the twins but to him it did not matter. The boy had done too many wrongdoings to make his family connections count in any positive way.

"No one, and I mean absolutely no one, touches what is mine and lives to tell the tale." Although disgusted at the thought of touching a blood traitor Voldemort's hand shoot out and his fingers closed around the boy's throat, effectively cutting off his air supply.

The youngest Weasley boy started clawing his hands but Voldemort paid no heed to the marks left on his skin. He would not use magic on the boy since he was not worth such an honour.

After some last convulsions the boy's body went lax and Voldemort let go off him with a disgusted sneer, before wiping his hands clean on his robes. With the lifeless body at his feet Voldemort cast a Sonorus at himself, making it so his voice would reach every part of the building.

"This is lord Voldemort speaking. Your beloved Boy Who Lived and Albus Dumbledore are now dead. Those who do no longer want to fight are free to give up and will not be killed. But those who continue to fight will not be spared and there will be shown no mercy."

Around him people lowered their wands, but Voldemort paid them no heed. After kicking the dead body at his feet he turned around and walked back to where his lover lay.

Evan's body was unrecognisable and Voldemort closed his eyes in regret. This was the second time he had lost Evan and this time it was clear that he would not get his lover back. This time there would be a body to burry. Straightening his back Voldemort cast a stasis charm at the mauled body before putting up a ward to ensure that no one else would be able to come near the body.

Now was not the time to grieve he had a whole Wizarding world to rebuild from the bottom.

**)00(**

"Gred?"

"Yes, Forge?"

"You do realise that if this counts as a prank it will probably go over in the books?"

"I believe you are quite right my dear twin."

"Of course I am."

Severus pinched his nose in annoyance. The twins had been a great help to get into Hogwarts, but even in the middle of the fights they had been unable to shut up for just a single moment. Since they were fabulous duellers he guessed that it did not make much of a difference, not that he would ever admit it.

Currently they were located in the Great Hall. Taking over Hogwarts had been surprisingly easily. Severus would say it was because they still had many insiders in the school despite most of the purebloods had taken their children out of Hogwarts earlier in the school year.

The ones who had put up most of the fight had been the professors and those from Evan's little duelling club. Even then they had had no chance against fully trained death eater who did not hesitate to maim if that was what they had to do to ensure their victory.

The students were locked in their Houses, unable to leave without any of the guards being alerted about their movements. Meanwhile the surviving professors were locked in the teachers' longue, under much heavier watch than the brats.

Duelling against those he had worked together with for fifteen years had felt weird. But on the other hand Severus knew that none of the other professors would have shown him any mercy. To them death eaters and thereby he were the evil ones.

"Hey Snape."

"Where is Draco?" Hearing the twins' voices Severus looked away from the ceiling, which was showing the darkening sky, towards the twins who were looking expecting at him. "If I am not mistaken then Draco is with the centaurs. After all he is now one of their warriors together with Evan, so it is only natural that he will be with them"

"Who would have thought that the centaurs would have managed to distract everyone like that?" One of the twins, he assumed it was George, who had lost his ear because of a stray curse, asked and his twin nodded in agreement. "Yes shooting blazing lit arrows towards the greenhouses. Perhaps we should hear if they are interested in going into pranking business."

Severus hid a low groan. He doubted very much that the centaurs would pay the twins much attention, much less listening to their suggestions. But this were the famous Weasley twins, so it would not surprise him if they somehow managed to talk the creatures into joining their jokes shop.

Still he had to agree that the centaurs had done a decent job with distraction both students and professors while they had been sneaking into Hogwarts through the passageway which Evan had gone through.

All talk was halted when a silvery wolf patronus appeared among them. Severus raised an eyebrow, recognising the patronus as Lupin's. It had been agreed that unless the man did not survive it would be his job to send information about how the attack at the ministry was going. This was the first time they heard anything since they had departed to Hogwarts.

"The ministry has fallen. Dumbledore is dead and we have conquered." Around him cheers broke out at the sound of Lupin's voice, and Severus allowed himself to smile while he felt the tenseness disappear from his body. It seemed like it was finally over.

But instead of disappearing since its task was supposed to be finished the patronus continued speaking with the werewolf's voice, just loud enough for Severus and the twins to hear what it said. "Harry has fallen." Severus closed his eyes, feeling a strange burning which he had not felt in fifteen years, not since the fateful Halloween.

Black eyes opened and stared up at the ceiling which was showing the darkening sky. "Brat, for that alone I will make sure that Gryffindor stays in negative for the next fifty years." He chose to ignore the thickness in his voice while the twins freely allowed the tears to run down their cheeks. Through the door stepped Draco and Granger, holding hands and looking relative free from harm, but looking confused when they spotted the two Weasley twins. Severus was not looking forward to explaining the news to them.

**Sorry if anyone is from Sweden, the comment about Hitler has nothing to do with that. It was just to show that although Lucius might have a little interest in muggles he is still kind of clueless.**

**I killed Harry Potter. I killed Harry Potter. Just so you know it I KILLED HARRY POTTER AND THIS TIME HE IS STAYING DEAD FOR GOOD. **

**Although some people probably hate me right now I will kindly ask you to read the epilogue which will show you a little about the lives of the survivors now where Harry Potter is gone. **

**Just so you people know it, you will help yourself a great deal by reading the epilogue. Especially if you get the hint from the AN, I am not going to say more. **


	29. Chapter 29

**So, here it is, the epilogue. I want to thank all those who bothered to read I chose my own fate and The beginning to the beginning. I have enjoyed your reviews and I hope you have enjoyed the stories just as much.**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not, and will never be, mine. Now I will sit in my emo corner and cry for the rest of the night.**

**Beta: the one and only ****angelhitomie. Without her this story would have been nowhere as good as it ended up being. **

Voldemort apparated to just outside the graveyard, not a single hair or cloth out of place. With a grave face he looked around, making sure that no one had followed him or seen him arrive. Five years had passed since the war had ended with Dumbledore's death. Of course the resistance had not ended at once but without anyone to lead the so called light side they had been easily defeated.

Being sure that no one, neither magical nor non magical was following him, or had noticed his arrival, Voldemort tugged his wand away. Although he could easily defeat any enemy without it he knew from experience that if he lost his wand during a fight most people believed that he was easy to defeat. Sometimes Voldemort allowed his wand to slip just so he could watch their faces when they realised that he by no means was some kind of newbie they could just take on.

He strode past the graves, already having been there so many times that he did not need to look to know where he would go. Because of the October air Voldemort was dressed in warm robes and had cast a light heating charm on himself and his clothes just to be safe. The shoes he was wearing were meant for fine dinners and not for a tour in a graveyard.

It did not take long before Voldemort found what he had been looking for. Three graves placed in the middle of the graveyard. Their simple looks betrayed the people who had been buried under them.

Voldemort nodded to the two oldest graves. Then he turned his attention to the third and newest grave. Perhaps it was wrong to call the grave new, after all it had been there for almost five years. As the other two the grave was simple looking but surrounded by small tokens, which had been placed there through time. The people who had seen Potter as a hero, friend or as a part of their family had all done something to show their respect and how much they missed him but to him he had been a traitor.

"You are early." Voldemort did not look up when the person behind him spoke up. "I finished early today." The male snorted and walked closer, not caring that it was the leader of the Wizarding world he was speaking to. "Bullshit. I bet you just left and let Lucius deal with the chaos which happens whenever people realise that their beloved lord and leader is missing. Just because Lucius is the minister of Magic it does not mean that you can pull such stunts whenever you fell like it."

Finally Voldemort looked away from the grave in front of him and met his lover's gaze. Green eyes dances with mirth and Voldemort smiled. "You are right, but I could not wait seeing you."

"Excuses, excuses." Evan said before kneeling down next to him before placing a white lily and a stag in front of the two oldest graves. Voldemort let him, using the silence between them to watch his lover more closely although he already knew everything there was to know about the other man.

The last five years had done Evan good. His lover's midnight black hair was braided and reached the end of his back. He looked healthy but the place he had been forced to live as a child had hindered his growth and not even potions could repair the damage done. Evan was dressed in simple but well made robes in a green shade which brought forth his eyes. Voldemort grimaced when he saw the smudges on the sleeves of the robe.

When Evan stood Voldemort followed him and offered him his arm. "Would you like to join me on a walk?" Evan smiled and placed a hand on top of his arm. "I would love to."

They walked in silence, not really looking at the graves they passed, but enjoying the other's presence. The few people at the graveyard stepped aside for them, used to seeing the two lovers there.

"How are Severus and Draco doing?" Evan was the first one to break the silence between them. "Severus is talking about attending a potion conference in Canada, but it is on the date where Draco's first is set to come."

"Of course he does not want to miss the birth of his first grandchild. I bet he is secretly planning on how to teach the baby potions without Hermione finding out about it."

Harry yelped when Voldemort slapped him in the back of the head although there was no power behind the slap. "Be nice and do not let Draco hear you say that. He has to deal with the whole school as the headmaster and a pregnant wife at the same time."

"If you say so."

"Besides, Narcissa and Lucius are worse. I believe that the woman has managed to buy half the baby equipment there is in Britain."

They shared a laugh. "Say, has Lucius leg started to bother him yet?" Voldemort shook his head, knowing that his lover felt bothered by the fact that Lucius' leg had been beyond remedy after it had been crushed under debris under the ministry attack. Now the cane the blond Malfoy lord used was not just for looks. "Severus scold him every time Lucius forgets to use a warming charm on himself, especially when we are heading towards colder times."

They sat down on a bench, Voldemort placed an arm around Evan's shoulder and pulled him closer until they were sitting pressed against each other's side. "I still find it hard to believe that you agreed to make me believe that you were actually dead." He did not need to look at his lover's face to see the guilty look which would be there. "It had to be done if we wanted to get rid of the prophecy. For it to be fulfilled either you or Harry Potter had to die. By making you and the whole world believe that he was dead, it was done."

Evan stretched, before continuing talking. "The only reason why Fenrir and Remus knew about the truth was because they were hiding me until all the tumult would die down. If Sanguini had lived not even they would have known about my survival. But as it was Nero dumped me with them as soon as he was sure that no lasting harm had been done to me. Besides to the werewolves I am neither Harry Potter nor Evan James, but pup, that was why it could work as well as it did."

Voldemort hugged his lover with one arm, almost afraid that he would lose him if he did not do so. "But to think that the vampire used a Polyjucie on Fudge to make him look like you? Not even Severus thought of the fact that people who use the potion and die while it is still effective does not change back to their original form." Next to him Evan nodded. "Yeah, but I am surprised that Nero managed to find Fudge. After all, I doubt very much that he was anywhere near the fight. Knowing Fudge he was either trying to sneak out or hiding somewhere."

Evan snuggled closer to him. "You act like a cat." The man sat up, looking annoyed. "What is it with people and comparing me to animals? Remus and Fenrir call me pup, but that is understandable since it is a werewolf term for someone's child. But why cat?"

The dark lord ruffled his lover hair, ignoring Evan's protests at the action. "In case you have forgotten it, Evan, your animagus form is a black kitten. It is not unusual that the animagus traits transfer over to the human. In your case you sometime act more like a feline than an actually human."

"Not my fault, with people comparing me to animals it is no wonder that I sometimes feel confused about whether or not I am actually human."

"Considering who you lived with the first half a year after the victory I cannot say that I am surprised."

Evan turned around on the bench so he could look directly at his lover. "I will let you know that the werewolves' living conditions have improved a great deal after you and Lucius took over the ministry. Remus really enjoys teaching, although I guess that Fenrir is not so happy about having to share his mate's time with, what did he call them, all those god dammed brats?"

The laugh was evident in the younger man's voice and his Avada Kedavra green eyes seemed to shine. "I visited the twins' shop today."

"How are they doing?"

"They are planning to expand to America, especially since Luna's ideas seems to be selling so good."

Voldemort did not even try to hide his grimace. The three were an unusual trio. He had never expected the Weasley twins and the former Lovegood to form a relationship much like the one Lucius, Narcissa and Severus shared. But there were some doubt about who was the father to which of the three children they had, although it did not seem to bother the two brothers. They were happy with their children. Since there was no one else left of their old family, other than the two oldest Weasley boys, who had both moved out of the country, Voldemort guessed they enjoyed having a big family of their own. He knew that Draco feared the day that the trio's children would enter Hogwarts. With two pranksters and a less than sane woman as their parents it was bound to become some interesting years.

They sat in silence for some time until Voldemort finally broke the silence with a question: "What will you do once you die? Harry Potter is already buried next to his parents." Evan shrugged. "I will worry about that once the time comes. Harry Potter is dead and it will stay so."

The dark lord placed a soft kiss at his smaller lover's forehead. "As long as I am alive I will not allow you to die." He said softly. "I am just happy that things ended the way they did. I have my own family, I still work as a ward maker and I am not seen as the Boy Who Lived. I am with you."

They did as they had done every Halloween for the last five years, sitting close together and just talking. At moments like that it meant nothing that they had once been enemies and fated to kill each other.

They were free.

They were lovers.

They were each other's family.

They chose their own fate.

**He,he. Well, I said that Harry Potter was dead; I never said anything about Evan James, did I? After the stunt in the last story I am surprised that no people seemed to think of this possibility. **


End file.
